Homicide Watch Chicago

By RUMMANA HUSSAIN Chicago Sun-Times A man who decapitated his aunt’s boyfriend, Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez, after being told to move out of her Northwest Side apartment has been sentenced to 33 years in prison. Alexis Valdez, 21, pleaded guilty to murder in the 2013 Christmas attack in the 2500 block of North Kildare Avenue before Cook … Read more →

Alexis Valdez / Photo from Chicago Police BY LEEANN SHELTON Sun-Times Media An 18-year-old man accused of decapitating his aunt’s boyfriend after being told to move out of her house pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge Tuesday. Alexis Valdez is accused of attacking and killing Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez early Christmas morning in an apartment … Read more →

Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez was killed in a December attack on the Northwest Side that left him decapitated. Reader “Mike” shared this about him: He was a very loving dad, and cared so much about his kids. His oldest kid is 18 years old, and that’s pretty much the only family he has from Chicago. His 18 … Read more →

BY MICHAEL LANSU Homicide Watch Chicago Editor Eight people were shot to death and one man was beaten and dismembered in murders throughout the city last week. Charges have been filed in three of the four killings. On Saturday, 23-year-old Craig Williams was shot to death while walking in the 4500 block of South Indiana … Read more →

BY MICHAEL LANSU AND STEFANO ESPOSITO Sun-Times Media Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez was the only parent to two biological children and four stepdaughters after their mother died of lupus more than a year ago, family members said. “We lost our mother [in] November 2012 to lupus and he was there every step of the way,” stepdaughter Melissa … Read more →

Alexis Valdez / Photo from Chicago Police BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Homicide Watch Chicago When Alexis Valdez’s aunt told her do-nothing nephew that she wanted him out of her Northwest Side apartment, he decided to leave her a Christmas Eve “present.” The gift Valdez left on his aunt’s bed, Cook County prosecutors alleged in court Friday, … Read more →

Alexis Valdez / Photo from Chicago Police Alexis Valdez was charged with murder Thursday after police found a decapitated man in a Hermosa neighborhood home early Christmas morning. Officers responding to a homicide call found the body of Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez, 41, about 2 a.m. Wednesday in his basement apartment in the 2500 block of North … Read more →