Homicide Watch Chicago

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 15 people were killed in Chicago last week, including four who were slain in what police called a robbery or home invasion as a home where drugs were being sold on the Far South Side.

The Fernwood massacre occurred Saturday at what Chicago Police called “dope house” in the 100 block of West 105th Street. However, it wasn’t clear exactly when the shootings happened.

Officers were called at 12:39 p.m. to the home and found Elijah Jackson, 36; Shacora Jackson, 40; and Nateyah Yafah Hines, 19, dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. All three lived in the house. A fourth person, 45-year-old Scott Travis Thompson of southwest suburban Romeoville was also found dead.

Shacora Jackson suffered multiple gunshot wounds, while the otherss each suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head, according to the medical examiner’s office. A fifth victim, an 18-year-old woman found outside with at least one gunshot wound, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she remained in critical condition. A 2-year-old boy was unharmed and was taken to Roseland Community Hospital for observation.

The week’s killings pushed the city total to more than 750 for 2016.

• The week’s last homicide occurred Sunday morning in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side. Joel Planas, 34, was involved in a fight with another man at 12:52 a.m. in the 3100 block of West Irving Park Road when the person he was fighting pulled a gun and fired, striking him in the abdomen, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Planas was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was died about 5 hours later, police said.
• A southwest suburban man was shot to death Friday night in the Belmont Heights neighborhood on the Northwest Side. Just after 10 p.m., 28-year-old Crispin Coliz Jr. got into an argument with two men inside a convenience store, authorities said.
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By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 9 people died from violence last week, including a 1-month-old baby whose death in Englewood was ruled a homicide by child abuse, as Chicago’s 2016 murder total neared 750.

As of Wednesday morning, there have been at least 741 homicides in Chicago this year, according to Chicago Sun-Times Wire statistics. If you add in 11 people who died in 2016 after being shot or assaulted in prior years, the number is 752 with three weeks left in the year.

One of those was the death of a 1-month-old boy Wednesday afternoon in Englewood. About 2 p.m. Dec. 7, officers responded to assist paramedics treating an unresponsive infant inside his home in the 6600 block of South Racine, according to Chicago Police. Timothy Harmon was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where he died minutes later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy Thursday found Timothy died of multiple injuries caused by child abuse, according to the medical examiner’s office. Area South detectives are investigating, along with the Department of Children and Family Services. Police said the baby’s mother was not home at the time, and the 911 call was made by a babysitter.

• Last week’s final homicide was south suburban man fatally shot Sunday afternoon in the Riverdale neighborhood on the Far South Side. Anthony “Mook G” Barr, 45, was sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked blue SUV at 12:04 p.m. in the 300 block of East 136th Street when he was approached by two male suspects, who opened fire before running away, police and the medical examiner’s office said. Barr, who lived in Harvey, was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.

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At least 18 people were killed in violence in Chicago last week, including an elderly west suburban businessman who often returned to his West Side neighborhood, where he advocated against violence and spent time trying to improve the relationship between the community and the police.

It remains unclear whether Ronald L. Allen was the intended target of the shooting that took his life as he drove home from a card game with friends early Friday in North Austin. About 2:20 a.m., someone opened fire on his vehicle in the in the 1300 block of North Laramie, striking him in the side, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. His vehicle crashed into two parked cars, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

Allen, who grew up in the Austin, was one of the first black owners of an insurance agency backed by a major national company, Allstate, before retiring about seven years ago. He was also an activist whose goal was to help repair the relationship between police and communities with the group Urban Partnership. The Naperville resident, a graduate of Chicago State University, also hosted “The Financial Forum” on WVON-AM, and served as a precinct committeeman in Naperville Township and was active in the DuPage County NAACP.

Family members said it was not unusual for Allen to be playing cards in his old neighborhood. He was a big fan of the game Bid Whist, and even wrote a book, “The Evolution of Bid Whist,” on the history and strategy of the game. Allen was 73.

• Also shot to death in the city last week was a 25-year-old man with a 20-0 record as professional boxer. His co-manager said Ed “Bad Boy” Brown “was going to be a world champion.” Instead, the Garfield Park native, who wore a Chicago flag uniform when he fought, was gunned down early Saturday., just half a mile from his home, according to police and co-manager, Mike Cericola.
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By JEFF MAYES and JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 12 people were shot to death in Chicago last week as a violent year continued with no sign of colder weather stopping the bloodshed in the streets.

November closed with 77 murder victims in the city, making it the third-deadliest month of the year, according to Chicago Police. October was second with 78 homicide victims, while the highest death toll of the year so far was in August, when more than 90 people were killed.

November saw a total 316 shooting incidents and 389 shooting victims, according to police, who claim the increase in violence is driven by five police districts on the South and West sides.

The city also passed the grim milestone of 700 homicides for the year in November, the first time has happened since 1998. Through the end of November, there were 714 homicides, according to Chicago Sun-Times Wire records.

Through Nov. 30, the city has had a total of 4,048 shooting victims in 3,315 shooting incidents in 2016, according to police.
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By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

The weather turned colder last week, but that couldn’t stop the violence, as 22 more people died as the result of homicides in Chicago, including the teenage grandson of a congressman, pushing the year’s homicide toll past 700 for the first time in nearly 20 years.

He was one of four people killed in separate shootings on the South and West sides Thursday as the city surpassed the 700 homicide total for the first time since 1998.

A total 0f 704 homicides were reported that year, a number already surpassed in mid-November with the 708th homicide of the year recorded (including 10 people who died this year of injuries suffered in attacks in earlier years) on Nov. 20. Last year the city recorded 473 homicides for the entire year.

Shootings are also far surpassing the 2015 totals, with Chicago Police reporting 3,165 shooting incidents through Wednesday. More than 3,290 people have been injured in those shootings, and that does not include the 630-plus who died as a result of being shot.

Police statistics show a 49 percent increase in shooting incidents over a year ago, and a 54 percent increase in homicides, though police had only reported 654 homicides as of last Wednesday. Police do not include prior-year incidents, shootings they consider self-defense or accidental, or fatal shootings that occur on interstate highways which are investigated by Illinois State Police.

The 701st homicide victim of 2016 was Javon Wilson, the teenage grandson of U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, who was shot to death in his Englewood home Friday evening. About 6:45 p.m., the 15-year-old was inside his home in the 5600 block of South Princeton when two people came in, started arguing with the boy, and then shot him in the head, according to Chicago Police and a statement from the congressman’s office.
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By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 12 people were killed in violence in Chicago last week, including a 21-month-old girl allegedly beaten to death by her mother’s boyfriend, and two boys ages 16 and 17 killed in separate shootings on the West Side.

Cook County prosecutors allege that 22-year-old Uriel Vega was baby-sitting Raiylana Vasquez on Tuesday, Nov. 7, when he pulled the infant off the couch, threw her across the kitchen and into a bedroom, and then stomped on her stomach. Vega is being hjeld without bond on a first-degree murder charge.

It happened Tuesday morning in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Authorities responded to the 4700 block of South Honore at 11:22 a.m. and found Raiylana unresponsive, Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. She had suffered “obvious” signs of trauma.

Raiylana was taken to Holy Cross Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy found she died of multiple injuries due to child abuse, and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.

The state Department of Children and Family Services is also investigating the mother’s boyfriend for allegations of abuse and neglect, according to a spokeswoman.

• A teenage boy was the week’s first homicide, fatally shot Monday afternoon in West Garfield Park. Someone walked up to 16-year-old Clarence Coakley about 3:30 p.m. in the 4600 block of West Lake Street and shot him repeatedly in the upper torso, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene.

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By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 28 people died from violence last week, including 10 over a bloody weekend that pushed the city’s murder total closer to the 700 mark than it has been in many years.

The week’s total, more reminiscent of a summer weekend that early November, brought the 2016 homicide total to an unofficial 665, according to figures compiled by the Chicago Sun-Times Wire.

Two of those were a brother and sister killed in a domestic-related shooting that also left two other people critically wounded early Thursday in the South Chicago neighborhood; and a 3-year-old boy beaten to death by his father Monday in West Pullman, according to police.

Four people were shot by a “known suspect” in the 8000 block of South Shore Drive about 12:10 a.m., according to Chicago Police. The suspect got into an argument with one of the victims and it turned physical, police said. He left the home, but returned with a gun and shot all four victims.

A 20-year-old woman, Emoni House; and her 16-year-old brother, Elijah House, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Emoni House suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and Elijah House suffered a gunshot wound to the back. Both lived in the home where the shooting happened.

A 42-year-old woman was shot in the chest, and a 30-year-old woman was also shot, police said. They were taken in critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. No one was in custody.

• The death of a 3-year-old boy Monday in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side was ruled a homicide, and days later, his father was charged with murder. Police were called at 8:23 a.m. to an apartment in the 12200 block of South Green, where they found the boy with “visible injuries,” according to police spokeswoman Officer Michelle Tannehill.
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By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 27 people died from violence in Chicago last week, including 17 in the deadliest weekend of the year in Chicago. The death toll included a 14-year-old honor student, and twin 17-year-old boys.

At least 17 people, including four teenagers, were killed and 41 people were wounded in shootings across the city between Friday evening and Monday morning, the highest weekend death toll in a year that had seen more than 640 homicides through Halloween.

The twin brothers were killed in a drive-by shooting early Sunday in Old Town. Edwin Bryant and Edward Bryant were standing outside about 3:15 a.m. in the 1300 block of North Hudson when a dark-colored vehicle drove by and someone inside opened fire, according to authorities.

Edwin was shot in the chest and back, and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:45 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office and Chicago Police. Edward suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and head, and was also taken to Northwestern, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later.

• The 14-year-old boy was fatally shot early Saturday in the South Austin neighborhood. At 1:23 a.m., DeMarco Webster Jr. was on the street helping his father load items into a car in the 500 block of South Central when someone in a dark-colored car shot him in the torso, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Webster was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he died abut two hours later, authorities said. Demarco was an 8th-grade honor student at Jensen Scholastic Academy.

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By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 15 died in Chicago violence last week, including a woman shot to death by her cousin as the two women argued over the Far South Side apartment they shared being too mess, and a man stabbed to death by a friend as they did drugs on the South Side.

The week’s killing pushed the city’s homicide total past the 600 mark for the year, with the Chicago Sun-Times Wire counting 611 as of Sunday night.

The domestic slaying happened Tuesday evening in the Eden Green neighborhood; and led to Tiera Graves, 28, being charged with first-degree murder, according to Chicago Police.

Graves and her cousin, 21-year-old Marilyn Duffie, were arguing about 7:20 p.m. Tuesday in the 300 block of East 130th Street when Graves shot Duffie in the chest, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Duffie was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she was pronounced dead two hours later.

Prosecutors said the cousins were apparently arguing over the messy apartment they shared, and over Duffie’s conduct around Graves’ child. Graves was ordered held on a $1 million bond.

• In the other murder involving acquaintances, a 37-year-old was charged with fatally stabbing another man inside a Woodlawn neighborhood apartment where they were doing drugs with the victim’s girlfriend Sunday morning, according to prosecutors. About 8:15 a.m., Jacob Shelton got into an argument with 45-year-old Lucius Delaney inside the older man’s home in the 6600 block of South Vernon, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
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By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 16 people were killed last week in Chicago as the city’s homicide total edged closer to the 600 mark, a number not seen in decades.

That number included seven people killed in a bloody 12-hour period starting just before 7 p.m. Friday and ending about 7 a.m.

That deadly 12 hours started when an 18-year-old man was fatally shot in West Garfield Park at 6:49 p.m. Friday. Faizon Smith was in the gangway of a building in the 4500 block of West Maypole when someone fired shots from a sedan and drove away, according to the Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Smith was shot in the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

• Just over an hour later, two men were fatally shot in a drive-by in Austin, police said. About 8 p.m., Jamal Thomas, 18; and Jermale Richardson, 20, were standing by a parked car in the 5500 block of West Congress when a grey sedan pulled up and someone inside fired shots, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

  Thomas, who lived on the same block as the shooting, was struck in the head and was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Richardson suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was also pronounced dead at Stroger.

• Less than 20 minutes later, a man was killed and six others wounded in a shooting in East Garfield Park. At 8:18 p.m., the group was standing together outside in the 3300 block of West Maypole when someone inside a black vehicle driving east on Maypole began shooting.
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