Homicide Watch Chicago

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago SUn-Times Wire

Eric O’Reilly died Monday, nearly two months after he was shot on the same block where he lived in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.

The 27-year-old O’Reilly was walking on the sidewalk in the 4900 block of South Laflin about 5 a.m. March 20 when he was shot in the chest, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

O’Reilly, who lived on the same block, was taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 5:05 p.m. Monday, according to the medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy found he died of complications from multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide.

No one was in custody as of Wednesday as Area Central detectives investigate.

By MITCH DUDEK
Chicago Sun-Times

De’Kayla Dansberry | Facebook

It’s what the 13-year-old girl who fatally stabbed De’Kayla Dansberry, 15, in the chest said as she washed blood off the murder weapon minutes after after the two got into fight, according to eyewitness testimony.

“Oh Jesus,” Dansberry’s mother, Sharon, whispered as she watched the proceedings.

The girl charged with the slaying wore a pink hoodie and left the apartment with a knife, the eyewitness told authorities.

The girl’s mother, Tamika Gayden, 35, of the 6400 block of South King Drive, was charged with murder and felony contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Chicago Police said. Gayden gave the knife to her daughter, according to police.
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By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 21 people died from violence in the bloodiest week of the year last week in Chicago, including three members of the same family who were shot to death in their home by a man who later took his own life in a standoff with police.

Also killed during the week were a young man whose turnaround story of going from the gang life to student leader was detailed in a CNN documentary; a girl who was both an honor student and track star at Jones College Prep; and a man who served several years as a correctional officer at the Cook COunty Jail.

Eight people died over the weekend, including 17-year-old aspiring rapper Stacey Fluckes, who performed as LilMuney TheRapper. He was shot to death Sunday night in North Lawndale.

Officers responded to a call of shots fired about 9 p.m. in the 1500 block of South Karlov, where they found Fluckes unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the chest, 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 9:26 p.m..

Willie Jones was fatally shot Sunday afternoon in the West Side Austin neighborhood. Officers responding to a call of shots fired in the 0-100 block of North Lorel at 2:33 p.m. found the 35-year-old unresponsive in an alley, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He suffered gunshot wounds to the head and back, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:36 p.m..
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By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Joseph Thrane | Chicago Police

Joseph Thrane pleaded guilty Monday to murder before Judge Vincent Gaughan and was sentenced to 31 years in prison, according to Cook County court records.

Thrane, then 18; and 20-year-old Giovanni Rios were charged with the shooting death of the 20-year-old Feliciano about 4 p.m. on May 24, 2015, authorities said.

Feliciano, a car enthusiast, was driving around in his car while three friends followed in three separate vehicles, prosecutors said at the time. Rios and Thrane were in a black Saturn SUV with fellow Latin Kings flashing gang signs before they opened fire on Feliciano.
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By SIMONE ALICEA
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Maurice Johnston was shot to death Monday night while driving on I-57 in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the Far South Side, continuing a troubling trend of shooting on Chicago’s interstate highways.

Johnston, 37, was driving a silver van in the 11000 block of South Hamlet near the I-57 on-ramp about 8:35 p.m. when someone fired shots, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The van continued north onto I-57 before coming to a stop near 108th Street, police said.

Johnston, of the 11500 block of South Wentworth, was shot in the head, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:47 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

The far right lanes of northbound I-57 were temporarily closed between 111th and 109th streets as police investigated, according to Illinois State Police.

Including Monday night’s killing, police have investigated 19 shootings on Chicago highways in 2016.

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man who was driving drunk when his car struck and killed 41-year-old Jess R. Rodriguez on the Eisenhower Expressway on the West Side last year has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Adrian Harris, 33, pleaded guilty Thursday to aggravated DUI causing death before Judge Kenneth Wadas, according to Cook County court records.

Harris was driving in the westbound lanes of I-290 near Western Avenue about 4 a.m. Oct. 4, 2015, when his car struck a pedestrian, Rodriguez, according to Illinois State Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Harris stopped a short time later near Homan, state police said.
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Frank M. Hill Jr. was found shot to death early Sunday in the West Side Austin neighborhood.

The 35-year-old Hill was found inside a car in the 5000 block of West Washington Boulevard at 7:12 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the head, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Hill, of the 6100 block of South Talman, was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:24 a.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. His death was ruled a homicide.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man killed in a drive-by shooting that also left another man wounded late Friday in the University Village neighborhood has been identified as Mark Vargas.

The men, both 21, were standing on a sidewalk in the 1200 block of West Grenshaw about 11:45 p.m. when someone in a dark-colored van fired shots, according to Chicago Police.

Friends drove the men to Stroger Hospital, police said. Vargas, of the 900 block of West 19th Street, was shot in the chest and abdomen, and was pronounced dead at Stroger at 12:13 a.m. Saturday, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The other man was shot in the arm and his condition was stabilized, police said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By MITCH DUDEK, LAUREN FITZPATRICK and DANIEL BROWN
Chicago Sun-Times

De’Kayla Dansberry | Facebook

De’Kayla Dansberry imagined herself sprinting down the deep-blue track at Eastern Illinois University later this week.

Her small track team—seven girls total—from Johnson College Prep in Englewood qualified for state last week to run three relay races.

“The track is painted this pretty blue, and it feels like going to the Olympics,” Johnson Prep track coach Latrise Muhammad said Sunday. “And I just kept telling these girls, ‘This is a big deal,’ and especially De’Kayla, because she’s a freshman.’

“It turned out she was the missing piece we needed. We qualified to go downstate for all the relays because we had her,” Muhammad added.
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A man fatally shot his passenger, Camille C. Cooley, then took his own life in an SUV on the Kennedy Expressway early Sunday on the Northwest Side, authorities said.

Illinois State Police conduct a death investigation on the outbound Kennedy Expressway Sunday morning. | Network Video Productions

The 43-year-old driver, Eric L. Taylor; and 36-year-old passenger, Cooley, were each found with a gunshot wound to the head, police said. Both were pronounced dead at the scene at 4:28 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
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