Dylan Dent killed, second man wounded in drive-by shooting in West Pullman

Dylan N. Dent was killed and another man wounded in a shooting in the West Pullman neighborhood early Saturday.

The men, ages 21 and 24, were driving home in an alley in the 500 block of West 127th Street about 3:35 a.m. when a male with dreadlocks shot them from inside a blue truck, according to Chicago Police.

The younger man, Dent, was shot in the shoulder, and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 4:30 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office and police. He lived in the same block as the shooting.

The other man was shot in the leg and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said. His condition stabilized.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Prosecutors: 16-year-old Mysean Dunning killed in East Garfield Park as revenge for car crash, broken windows

By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

James Armstrong | Chicago Police

James Armstrong | Chicago Police


James Armstrong wasn’t happy about being in a car crash, then the people in the other car smashed the windows of his white Lincoln. Four hours later he exacted his revenge by killing Mysean Dunning, Cook County prosecutors said Thursday.

Armstrong was driving his Lincoln when it spun out and hit a car that Dunning and two others were in at Homan and Van Buren, Assistant State’s Attorney Holly Grosshans said.

Armstrong and his passengers left the car behind. After they left, Dunning and his friends broke out the windows of the Lincoln, Grosshans said.
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Nykea Aldridge, fatally shot while pushing stroller near her home in Parkway Gardens, was cousin of Dwyane Wade

By DANIEL BROWN and MATTHEW HENDRICKONS
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Nykea Aldridge | Facebook

Nykea Aldridge | Facebook


Less than 24 hours after participating in an ESPN town hall on violence in Chicago, Bulls star Dwyane Wade was devastated by news his cousin Nykea Aldridge was shot and killed while pushing a baby stroller Friday afternoon in the South Side Parkway Gardens neighborhood.

It’s the latest example of senseless violence in a year of extraordinary gun violence in Chicago.

“My cousin was killed today in Chicago,” Wade tweeted Friday night. “Another act of senseless gun violence. 4 kids lost their mom for NO REASON. Unreal. #EnoughIsEnough.”

About 3:30 p.m., Aldridge, 32, was walking with a man and a baby in a stroller in the 6300 block of South Calumet when two male suspects fired shots at a third man nearby, according to Chicago Police.

Aldridge, of the 6400 block of South King Drive, was taken to Stroger Hospital with gunshot wounds to the head and arm, and was pronounced dead at 4:15 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
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Ramon Tolbert fatally shot on street corner in Galewood

Ramon M. Tolbert was shot to death in the Galewood neighborhood Friday evening.

Tolbert, 35, was standing on a corner at 6:12 p.m. in the 1500 block of North Meade Avenue when a male got out of a vehicle and approached him with a gun, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The man fired shots, then got back in the vehicle and drove away, police said.

Tolbert, of the 200 block of North Kildare Avenue, was shot in the head and chest, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:49 p.m., authorities said.

Tolbert was an aspiring rapper who performed as Money Mone.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Mario Cousins dies 12 hours after being shot in the head in East Garfield Park

A man who died Monday evening after being critically wounded in a shooting Sunday morning in East Garfield Park has been identified as 20-year-old Mario Cousins.

Cousins was sitting on a porch in the 3600 block of West Lexington about 6:45 a.m. when a male walked up and shot him in the head, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. Monday, authorities said. He lived in the 5000 block of West Huron.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Rashon Purnell Nichols shot to death on block where he lived in Back of the Yards

A man shot to death early Wednesday on the block where he lived in the Back of the Yards has been identified as Rashon Purnell, though family members identified him as Rashon Nichols.

The 24-year-old was sitting in a vehicle at 4:13 a.m. in the 5400 block of South Bishop when he was shot in the chest, neck and arm, according to Chicago Police.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:26 a.m., according to Cook County medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy showed that Purnell, who lived on the block where he was shot, died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Aspiring MMA fighter Travis Allen chased down and shot outside his Englewood home

Aspiring MMA fighter Travis Allen was shot to death Wednesday morning outside his home in the South Side Englewood neighborhood.

Travis Allen | Facebook

Travis Allen | Facebook


The 28-year-old Allen was sitting in a vehicle with friends in the 5700 block of South Emerald at 10:54 a.m. when they heard gunshots, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

They got out of the vehicle and started running, but the gunmen chased Allen and shot him multiple times in the torso, police said.

Allen was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:32 a.m., police said.

Mike Davis, who runs the Chicago-based United Combat League, was both trainer and promoter for Allen in his budding Mixed Martial Arts career.
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Man found shot to death in North Lawndale identified as 37-year-old Johnell Johnson

A man was found shot to death Tuesday night in the North Lawndale neighborhood has been identified as 37-year-old Johnell Johnson.

Officers responding about 9:40 p.m. to a call of a person shot in the 3900 block of West 14th Street found Johnson lying on the ground in an alley, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:50 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 2900 block of West Augusta.

An autopsy found he died of multiple gunshot wounds.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Victor Mata found shot to death in yard in Ashburn

Victor Mata was found shot to death Tuesday night in the Ashburn neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

Officers responding to a call of shots fired shortly before 7 p.m. found the 22-year-old lying in a yard in the 7900 block of South Kirkland, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Neighbors had heard gunfire and called authorities.

Mata was shot several times in the chest, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:10 p.m., authorities said. He lived in the 4900 block of South Marshfield.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Suspicious’ fire in South Chicago apartment building leaves 3 young girls, man dead; deaths ruled homicides

Shaniyah Staples, left, Madison Watson and Melanie Watson were victims in a suspected arson fire Tuesday. | Facebook

Shaniyah Staples, left, Madison Watson and Melanie Watson were victims in a suspected arson fire Tuesday. | Facebook

By STEFANO ESPOSITO, ASHLEE REZIN, MITCH DUDEK, ANDY GRIMM, JORDAN OWEN and LUKE WILUSZ
Chicago Sun-Times

Jennifer Wainwright had just saved her 2-year-old daughter’s life—dropping the little girl out of her front window and into the waiting arms of her fiancé.

Just minutes later, after Wainwright leaped to safety as flames licked the night sky and roared through her South Side apartment building, someone handed her another child—a baby, dirt-smeared and gasping for breath.

Family members and friends mourn in the 8100 block of South Essex, after a fire in an apartment building killed three children and left three other injured early Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Family members and friends mourn in the 8100 block of South Essex, after a fire in an apartment building killed three children and left three other injured early Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times


“Can someone please take the baby?” a man she didn’t know said to her.

Wainwright gently laid the infant on the sidewalk and placed her lips to the baby’s. But she was too late.

“It was devastating because all I could think about was, what if it had been my daughter?” Wainwright, 29, said later. “No mom should lose their newborn. No mom should lose their kids—period.”

Little Melanie Watson was one of four people—including her two sisters—who died in the early-morning fire.
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