By ANDY GRIMM
Chicago Sun-Times
A woman was fatally shot, and a man critically injured outside a Starbucks at 35th and State Friday afternoon. | Andy Grimm/Sun-Times
, a “completely innocent” city 311 operator, was killed by errant gunfire in a gang-related shooting two blocks from Chicago Police headquarters in Bronzeville Friday afternoon.
The shooting came just minutes after a press conference touting a major “gang takedown,” police said.
At 3:52 p.m., a 19-year-old man flagged down officers in the 3500 block of South State Street, saying he had been shot, and they found the 49-year-old Nelson on a sidewalk nearby with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Nelson, of the 4900 block of South Vincennes, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died at 4:33 p.m., authorities said. She had been a communications operator for 311 City Services since 2002, according to a statement from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
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By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times
Diego Uribe Cruz (left) and Jafeth Ramos | Chicago Police
Before
Diego Uribe Cruz plunged a knife into his 13-year-old cousin, prosecutors said he had the boy look out the window and wait for his grandfather, who was on his way home with hot chocolate and tamales.
“Please no! Please don’t! I just want to live,” prosecutors said Leonardo Cruz cried out as he was pushed into a corner of his living room and stabbed repeatedly while the teen’s other relatives—including his 10-year-old brother, Alexis Cruz—lay in pools of blood.
After Diego Uribe Cruz’s bond hearing Friday, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez described the slaughter of the six members of the Gage Park family last winter as “horrific.”
Uribe Cruz, 22, who had allegedly come to the home with his girlfriend and a gun in tow on Feb. 2, “hung” out with the family and even ate with them before the attack Judge James Brown and Alvarez described as “pure evil.”
Uribe Cruz, the nephew of victim Maria Martinez’s ex-husband, told police he had a “lot of anger” at how she treated his uncle.
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Prince Wilson was stabbed to death and another man wounded in the Park Manor neighborhood early Friday in what police said was a dispute among three men who knew each other.
Wilson, 24, died after being stabbed multiple times in the face and body about 5:30 a.m. in the 6900 block of South Prairie Avenue, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:55 a.m.
A 21-year-old man was stabbed in the left arm and was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said. His home address was not immediately known.
The stabbing stemmed from a verbal dispute inside a home between three “known acquaintances” that turned physical, police said.
Officers are searching for the third man, whose name and age were not known, but no one was in custody as of late Friday afternoon.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Marcus Patrick was killed and another man injured in a drive-by shooting in the Austin neighborhood Wednesday evening.
The men were outside in the 5800 block of West Augusta about 5:30 p.m. when someone in a passing vehicle shot them, Chicago Police said.
Patrick, 22, was shot in the wrist and chest, and was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
An autopsy showed he died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner’s office. Patrick lived in the 5800 block of West Erie.
The other man, 21, was shot in the finger and arm, police said. He took himself to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, where his condition had stabilized.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Romaine May was found shot to death Wednesday morning in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side.
The 28-year-old May was found with a gunshot wound to the head in a vacant lot in the 5400 block of West Walton about 9:30 a.m., according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
May, of the 1000 block of North Mayfield, was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:45 a.m. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the medical examiner’s office.
The homicide occurred after the city had gone more than 12 hours without a reported shooting between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Area Central detectives have opened a homicide investigation after 16-year-old Damarcus Williams was found dead Thursday afternoon with a gunshot wound to the head in the Woodlawn neighborhood.
Williams was found shot in the head at 1:12 p.m. in the 6100 block of South Evans, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The boy lived in the 6100 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, the medical examiner’s office said.
Police initially thought the teen may have accidentally shot himself, but later reclassified the death as a homicide. An autopsy on Friday also ruled the death a homicide.
A person of interest was being questioned Thursday night, but was released without charges on Saturday. The investigation continues.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times
Kevin Edwards | Chicago Police
The alleged getaway driver connected to the fatal shooting of 9-year-old
Tyshawn Lee was ordered held without bond on Wednesday.
Kevin Edwards was the third suspect to be charged, effectively closing the case that Cook County Judge James Brown said “shocked the city to its core.”
“Actually, it shocked the nation … that a 9-year-old boy could be executed while playing basketball because he was related to a gang member,” the judge added.
Edwards, of the 10600 block of South Green Street, has always been enrolled in special education classes, Assistant Public Defender Kathryn Lisco told Brown.
Given his “minimal mental faculties,” he could not come up with such a deadly plot, Lisco argued as the 23-year-old Edwards stood in a gray sweatshirt, and black and red pajama pants.
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Eric Nieves was killed and two other men injured in a shooting in the Noble Square neighborhood Monday night.
One man was killed and two other people were injured in a shooting Monday night in the 1500 block of West Walton. | Network Video Productions
The 24-year-old Nieves was standing with two other men in the 1500 block of West Walton shortly after 11 p.m. when another male walked up and fired shots, according to Chicago Police.
Nieves suffered gunshot wounds to the chest, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:35 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 900 block of North Kedvale.
The other men, ages 19 and 20, drove themselves to Stroger Hospital, police said. The younger man was shot in the head and was listed in serious condition; wthe older man was shot in the arm and his condition was stabilized.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
James Hooks was shot and killed in the Humboldt Park neighborhood Tuesday night in a shooting police say could be domestic-related.
A 38-year-old man was shot to death Tuesday night in Humboldt Park. | Network Video Productions
Hooks, 38, was in an argument with someone in the 4000 block of West Kamerling about 9:30 p.m. when the other person pulled out a gun and shot him, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Hooks, of the 4500 block of South LaCrosse Avenue, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:54 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.
An autopsy found he died of a gunshot wound to the back and his death was ruled a homicide. Police said the shooting is possibly domestic-related.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times
Tamika Gayden | Chicago Police
The mother of the 13-year-old girl accused of stabbing 15-year-old
De’Kayla Dansberry to death told her daughter to retrieve the murder weapon—a switchblade knife—from her purse before the slaying, Cook County prosecutors said Wednesday.
Tamika Gayden should have been protecting both girls, a visibly disturbed Judge James Brown said before ordering the single mother of five held without bond for murder and contributing to the criminal delinquency of a minor.
“We have another promising young life snuffed out in the city of Chicago,” Brown said, adding there have been 235 murders in the last 139 days.
“To me, that’s unprecedented insanity,” the judge said of the violence.
“Here we have a situation where we have two little girls having a dispute. One is given a knife by her mother and basically encouraged to kill another little girl.”
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