Homicide Watch Chicago

Maurice McKnight was killed and another man wounded in a shooting Monday morning in the Riverdale neighborhood on the Far South Side.

The men got into an argument with another person about 11:40 a.m. in the 13100 block of South Langley, according to Chicago Police. The other person then pulled out a handgun and opened fire.

The older man, identified as the 26-year-old McKnight, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and side, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:08 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 3700 block of South Wells.

The younger man, 20, was shot in the upper chest and left arm, and was able to take himself to 131st and St. Lawrence, from where he called 911. He was then taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition was stabilized.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man found shot to death last week in the Austin neighborhood has been identified as 54-year-old Ahmad N. Morgan.

Morgan was found with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest around 9:20 p.m. Thursday in the 5600 block of West Chicago Avenue, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Morgan, of the 5900 block of West Superior, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:15 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. His death was ruled a homicide.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

The week just passed saw the fewest number of people murdered in Chicago in nearly four months.

Nine people were homicide victims on that final week in May, and last week, there were 10 killed in the city, nine of them shot and one the victim of an arsonist who started blazes in trash bins and piles, several of which spread to adjacent buildings, in Heart of Chicago.

The final homicide of the week may have been the most shocking, when a pregnant woman was shot while sitting with a man in a car, and doctors had to rush to save her baby, several months premature, after the mother died.

Parasha M. Beard was killed and a man critically wounded in that South Chicago neighborhood shooting on Sunday evening. Shortly after 6 p.m., the 19-year-old was with a 26-year-old man sitting in a car parked in the 8700 block of South Marquette, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
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The death of a 1-month-old Evette West in the South Chicago neighborhood girl in June has been ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Evette was brought unresponsive to Trinity Hospital on June 16, and was later transferred to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she was pronounced dead at 12:11 p.m. that day, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. She lived in the 8800 block of South Saginaw.

Autopsy results were inconclusive with results pending further studies, but on Tuesday, the medical examiner’s office said the autopsy found that Evette died of blunt force injuries to the head. Her death was ruled a homicide.

No one was in custody as of Tuesday afternoon in connection with the death, police said. The investigation is ongoing.

A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services said in June that the agency was investigating allegations of abuse against Evette’s mother.

Welfare officials had prior contact with the family, including an unfounded investigation in August 2015, according to DCFS. Two siblings were removed from the home at the time of Evette’s death, and were staying with a relative under a DCFS safety plan.

The death of a Ural Jaylin Durant last summer in the Ashburn neighborhood on the Southwest Side has been ruled a homicide, though the 21-year-old was not shot as police initially believed.

On July 29, Durant was standing near an SUV parked in the 2400 block of West 79th Street about 7:15 p.m., Chicago Police said at the time. Two people walked out of a nearby gangway and started shooting at the vehicle, according to police.

The SUV, which had been reported stolen, sped away from the shooters, but crashed into a building down the street at 79th and Artesian, police said. An unknown number of people who were inside jumped out and ran away.

Durant, whose home address was unknown, was struck by the SUV and was found in the street near where the shooting took place. He was pronounced dead there at 7:44 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Police initially reported that Durant had been shot in the head. But autopsy results, which were inconclusive at the time of Durant’s death, have since shown that he died of multiple injuries due to an automobile striking a pedestrian, according to the medical examiner’s office. The death was ruled a homicide.

Marquese Fleming was killed and another man was wounded in a shooting early Sunday in the Old Town neighborhood.

About 4 a.m., the men, ages 20 and 30, were outside when someone walked out of a fast food restaurant and opened fire in the 100 block of West Division, according to Chicago Police. The shooter got into a Chevrolet Tahoe and drove away south on Clark Street.

Both men were shot in the back and were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said.

Fleming, 20, was pronounced dead at the hospital at 4:55 a.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 100 block of North Larrabee. The 30-year-old man was in serious condition, police said.

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said he was working with local businesses to collect surveillance video of the shooting to aid police.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Stanley Easley was shot to death early Sunday in the Washington Park neighborhood.

Easley, 36, was shot in the head at 1:55 a.m. in the 5100 block of South Indiana. He was on the block when a dark SUV drove up, a male exited the vehicle, walked up and fired a handgun twice, according to Chicago Police.

The shooter then got back into the SUV, which drove away eastbound on 51st Street.

Easley, of the 1800 block of West Marquette Road, was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:11 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. An autopsy found he died of multiple gunshot wounds.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By MITCHELL ARMENTROUT
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Parasha M. Beard will never get to see her new baby, but doctors were able to save the infant after the mother was shot to death Sunday evening in South Chicago.

A man who was wounded in the shooting was in critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department. It was not known whether he was the baby’s father.

Shortly after 6 p.m., the 19-year-old Beard and 26-year-old man were sitting in a car that was parked in the 8700 block of South Marquette, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Another vehicle pulled alongside them and a gunman, described only a male with dreadlocks, opened fire, authorities said.
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Tontriche “Tony” Weathersby Jr. was fatally shot early Sunday when an argument turned deadly at a party in the Gage Park neighborhood, authorities said.

About midnight, the 20-year-old Weathersby was at a party in the 5800 block of South Maplewood Avenue when he got into an argument with another man, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The other person pulled out a handgun and shot Weathersby in the chest.

Weathersby, who lived in southwest suburban Evergreen Park, was taken to Holy Cross Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:20 a.m., authorities said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Kiev Dobbins was found with fatal gunshot wounds early Sunday in the Brainerd neighborhood.

Officers responding to a call of shots fired about 2:25 a.m. found the 24-year-old Dobbins lying in a gangway in the 8900 block of South Laflin, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Dobbins, who lived a block away in the 9000 block of South Laflin, had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire