Homicide Watch Chicago

By JEFF MAYES and JARED LANSMAN
Homicide Watch Chicago

At least 10 people were homicide victims last week in Chicago, including a woman working in the Loop who was shot down by her boyfriend, who then took his own life; and an unborn child killed in a crash, leading to reckless homicide charges.

But the death of a 14-year-old girl, who was shot in the head, was being called accidental by Chicago Police, and a 17-year-old boy was charged with involuntary manslaughter for her death.

The most recent killing happened Sunday evening, when a man and a 16-year-old boy where shot while playing dice in Lawndale.

Jerome Phelps died Sunday night and 16-year-old Caprice McCollum Jr. died Monday at a hospital.

Phelps, 19, and McCollum were playing dice in the 1800 block of South Springfield about 9:45 p.m. when two male suspects approached and fired shots, police said.
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By JARED LANDSMAN and TRISTAN SIMS
Homicide Watch Chicago

At least eight people were killed in Chicago this past week, including two during a violent weekend in which nearly 50 people were shot.

The latest killing—during a weekend in which at least 45 people were wounded by gunfire—happened late Sunday in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side.

About 11:05 p.m., 32-year-old Marquis Mitchell was behind the wheel of a parked car with a passenger in the 1500 block of South Kildare when someone rode up on a bicycle and tried to rob them, police said.

When Mitchell started to drive away, the person on the bicycle opened fire, police said. He was shot in the left side and drove to the 1800 block of South Kildare, where the car crashed into a fence.

Mitchell, who lived in the 2400 block of West Madison, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. No one else was injured in the shooting.

A shooting late Friday left 17-year-old Torri Williams dead and a man wounded in the West Englewood neighborhood.
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By JARED LANSMAN and TRISTAN SIMS
Homicide Watch Chicago

At least 9 people were killed in Chicago violence this past week, though police say one may have been a case of self-defense; and a 10th person may have been a homicide victim, though an autopsy has proven inconclusive.

In the latest homicide, 20-year-old Chris Green was found shot and killed in an alley on the Far South Side early Sunday.

Green, of the 12000 block of South Parnell, was discovered unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds at 5 a.m. in the 11700 block of South LaSalle, police said. He was dead at the scene.

Vaughn King Jr. died and another man was critically wounded in a lakefront shooting early Sunday in the Oakland neighborhood on the South Side.
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By JARED LANDSMAN and TRISTAN SIMS
Homicide Watch Chicago

At least nine people were killed in Chicago this week by gun violence, including seven during a bloody weekend in which at least 34 other people were wounded in shootings.

The most recent fatal act of violence was a drive-by shooting that killed 16-year-old David Moreno in the Little Village neighborhood.

At about 7:45 p.m. Sunday, the teen was standing in the 2800 block of South Keeler when a vehicle approached and someone inside opened fire, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Moreno, of the 2700 block of South Lawndale, was shot in the upper body and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police said he was 15.

Sunday morning, an 18-year-old man was fatally shot in South Chicago, police said. At 9:13 a.m., officers responding to a call of a person shot in the 8100 block of South Manistee found the man unresponsive on the sidewalk.
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By JARED LANDSMAN and TRISTAN SIMS
Homicide Watch Chicago

At least twelve people were killed in violence in Chicago this past week, and that number may rise by four.

The most recent murder occurred late Saturday in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, where 25-year-old Elbert Harris was found with multiple gunshot wounds at 10 p.m. in the 500 block of North Avers, Chicago Police said.

Farris, of the 800 block of North Latrobe, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Earlier Saturday, a two-vehicle crash in the Loop left 20-year-old Jose Luzianos Jr. dead and 18-year-old Ivan Sanchez charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI, according to police.

The crash, involving a BMW and a Jeep, occurred on westbound Lower Wacker Drive near Garvey Court about 4:20 a.m. as the two friends were drag racing after a night of drinking, police said.
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By JARED LANDSMAN and TRISTAN SIMS
Homicide Watch Chicago

At least 12 people were killed in the wake of Chicago violence last week, including a 13-week-old boy run down by a vehicle police say was fleeing the scene of an earlier fatal shooting on the South Side.

On Saturday, 13-month-old Dillan Harris was run down by a vehicle fleeing a deadly gang shooting in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side.

Dillan, who was in a stroller, was with his mother and two older sisters waiting for a bus to go to 63rd Street Beach when the westbound car, which Chicago Police said was fleeing a fatal shooting in the 7700 block of South Kingston, swerved and hit the child.

The mother, who declined to giver her name, said she tried to push all of her kids out of the way but didn’t have enough time to get the 13-month-old clear of the danger.
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By JARED LANDSMAN and TRISTAN SIMS
Homicide Watch Chicago

Sixteen people were killed throughout Chicago last week, 11 of them over a violent Independence Day weekend,when the victims included a 7-year-old boy hot while watching fireworks in Humboldt Park on Saturday.

Seven-year-old Amari Brown, who lived in the 500 block of North Drake, and a 26-year-old woman were not the intended targets when they were shot while standing in the 1100 block of North Harding just before midnight.

Police said Sunday the bullet that fatally wounded the boy on the Fourth of July was meant for his father. Both Amari and the woman were shot in the chest at 11:55 p.m., police said.

The child’s father, Antonio Brown, a ranking gang member who has been arrested 45 times on charges ranging from burglary to gun possession, was not cooperating with police as they tried to find his son’s killer, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said Sunday.
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By JARED LANDSMAN and TRISTAN SIMS
Homicide Watch Chicago

At least nine people were killed in Chicago last week, all of them fatally shot.

Shootings since Friday night alone left three men dead and at least 18 other people wounded, according to Chicago Police.

The latest killing happened Sunday afternoon in the Roseland neighborhood on the Far South Side, police said.

22-year-old Martell Smith was walking in the 9900 block of South State Street at 2:10 p.m. when a vehicle drove up, and someone inside fired shots, police said.

Smith, who lived on the same block, was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Police are investigating whether the shooting was gang-related.
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By TRISTAN SIMS and JARED LANDSMAN
Homicide Watch Chicago

At least 13 people were killed by violence throughout Chicago last week, eleven of them fatally shot.

The latest homicide, for which a man is in custody, was a fatal stabbing outside a Target in the North Side Uptown neighborhood Sunday night.

The victim, 48-year-old Thomas Sawyer, was stabbed in the neck at 9:45 p.m. during an argument in the 4400 block of North Broadway, police said. Sawyer, believed to have been homeless, died at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

In a tweet late Sunday, Ald. James Cappleman said the fight happened over selling socks outside the Target. He called the killing “senseless.”
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BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Three men were fatally shot and a woman was stabbed to death in homicides throughout the city last week.

Three of the killings happened during indoor disputes, and at least one police called domestic-related.

The most recent murder happened when 16-year-old Marquise Harris was shot dead in a second-floor apartment in the 6200 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue about 11:20 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.
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