Derion Smith died Tuesday afternoon, about 36 hours after being stabbed during a fight in the Ashburn neighborhood. The death was ruled a homicide, but police said the other man involved acted in self-defense.
Smith, 23, was fighting with a 21-year-old man about 2:10 a.m. Monday in the 8000 block of South Pulaski when the younger man stabbed him in the neck with a knife, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Smith was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said. He lived in the same block where he was stabbed.
A 25-year-old woman who tried to break up the fight cut her finger and was also taken to Christ Medical Center, where her condition was stabilized, police said. Police could not confirm reports that the woman was pregnant.
An autopsy Wednesday found that Smith died of the stab wound to the neck, and his death was ruled a homicide.
The 21-year-old man was taken into custody and questioned, but later released without charges after an investigation indicated he acted in self-defense, police said.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
By JEFFMAYES and ANDYGRIMM
Chicago Sun-Times
After closing the books on another bloody month, Chicago Police went all out to try to reverse the recent trend of violent holiday weekends. Results were mixed at best.
Prior to the Fourth of July weekend, police closed the books on yet another month of disheartening crime statistics. Ugly trends continued with 72 murders during the month. The six-month tally of 315 killings as of June 30 was 49 percent higher than the first half of 2015 and puts the city on pace for 700 killings for the year.
The increased violence comes in a year that has featured unusually warm weather—a factor in urban violence—and diminished police morale and public trust as the city grapples with the fallout of protests over police brutality.
In a statement issued ahead of the official release of the June crime stats, Supt. Eddie Johnson called the level of violence in the city “unacceptable” and largely attributable to “repeat offenders with ties to gangs” and illegal guns. Read more
Store manager JQuinn McCune was fatally shot while trying to stop a shoplifter at a Family Dollar store in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood Tuesday evening on the South Side.
McCune, 30, was working at the store in the 7900 block of South Ashland when he saw someone inside stealing items about 5:30 p.m., according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
When confronted, the shoplifter pulled out a gun and opened fire, hitting him in the chest, police said.
McCune, who was originally from Flint, Michigan, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he later died, authorities said. Read more
Police investigate a homicide in the 2200 block of South Lawndale Avenue early Monday. | Lou Foglia/Sun-Times
A man shot to death late Sunday in front of a school in the Little Village neighborhood on the Southwest Side has been identified as Travon Clemmons of northwest suburban Hanover Park.
Officers responding about 10:50 p.m. to a call of a person down in the 2200 block of South Lawndale found the 24-year-old Clemmons lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the back of the head, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Clemmons, of the 1700 block of DeForest Lane in Hanover Park, was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:30 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. An autopsy found he died of multiple gunshot wounds. Read more
A South Side man was sentenced to 39 years in prison Tuesday for the 2014 slaying of a livery driver Javan Boyd just blocks away from U.S. Cellular Field.
Clint Massey, 19, was sentenced to 39 years in prison during a hearing Tuesday by Judge Vincent Gaughan, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
Massey and 21-year-old Courtney Ealy were previously convicted of first-degree murder for the shooting. Ealy was previously sentenced to 38 years in prison.
Both of the convicted men were rappers. Ealy performed under the name Cdai; while Massey performed as RondoNumbaNine. Read more
Laron McCoy was fatally shot in the South Chicago neighborhood Monday afternoon.
The 25-year-old McCoy was shot in the head about 1:15 p.m. in the 8100 block of South Burnham, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
McCoy was taken to South Shore Hospital, where he later died, authorities said. He lived in the 9700 block of South Luella.
Police said the shooting might have resulted from a drug dispute. No one was in custody as of late Tuesday afternoon.
Surveillance photo shows the suspected shooter from the scene of a fatal shooting Wednesday night in the Gold Coast. | Chicago Police
A man who was fatally shot last week during a confrontation in the Gold Coast neighborhood has been identified as 27-year-old Larry Lawrence.
Lawrence was shot multiple times at 8:09 p.m. Wednesday, June 29, in the 1200 block of North Clark Street, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Lawrence, of the 6500 block of South King Drive, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:41 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. Read more
A man killed in a shooting that also left another man wounded last week in the South Shore neighborhood has been identified as Dujuan Williams.
The shooting happened about 2:05 p.m. Monday, June 27, in the 7400 block of South South Shore Drive, Chicago Police said.
Williams, 20, was shot in the head, arm and abdomen; and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:47 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The younger man, 18, was shot in the armpit and was also taken to Northwestern, where his condition stabilized, police said.
A man who fatally stabbed his brother, Willie Pittman, during a domestic fight early Saturday in the Brainerd neighborhood acted in self-defense and will not face criminal charges, according to Chicago Police.
The stabbing happened about 5:15 a.m. at the home the 33-year-old Pittman shared with his 28-year-old brother in the 9200 block of South Lowe, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The two had gotten into an argument the night before, and when Pittman returned home in the morning, they started fighting again, authorities said. Read more
Slain teacher Betty Howard is inspiring a movement to revitalize Chatham. On Wednesday her brother, Orlando Long, a Chicago Police officer, on the left, and her son, James Washington, a truck driver, attended a press conference announcing the effort. | Fran Spielman/Sun-TImes
Not a day or even an hour goes by when James Washington doesn’t grieve for his mother, Betty Howard, a beloved special education teacher caught in the crossfire between rival gangs two years ago on a once-thriving Chatham commercial strip.
Last Wednesday was the exception. It was a day to celebrate Betty Howard.
Her murder—in broad daylight by a bullet that went through the wall of a real estate office where Howard worked a second job—had started a movement that may someday restore a neighborhood that was once the paragon of the black middle-class.
The so-called Greater Chatham Initiative is a massive public-private partnership with a noble mission: To break down “silos” and harness the resources of government agencies, social services, community groups and private investors to bring jobs, businesses, housing and public safety to Chatham and the nearby communities of Auburn-Gresham, Greater Grand Crossing and Avalon Park. Read more
What is Homicide Watch Chicago?
Homicide Watch Chicago is dedicated to the proposition that murder is never a run-of-the-mill story. Attention must be paid to each one, not merely a select and particularly tragic few. We understand the reality of the public’s demand for news - that some stories get more attention than others. But all murders represent a degree of human suffering - direct and indirect - that cannot be ignored. Read more…
