Homicide Watch Chicago

By SAM CHARLES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man has been charged with fatally shooting Darrin Joss inside a River West apartment building’s gym Wednesday night.

Reggie Daniel, 48, faces one count of first-degree murder after police say he shot Joss, 45, in the head and chest as Joss used the eighth-floor gym at 555 W. Kinzie shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday. Daniel turned himself in to authorities Thursday morning.

Joss, who lived in the building where he was shot, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

In a statement issued early Friday, police said the shooting occurred “after a verbal altercation.”
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By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A northwest Indiana man was found not guilty Wednesday of the 2013 murder of Jose Ibarra—who was run over by an SUV during a gang fight in Gage Park—though he remains in custody at the Cook County Jail.

Judge Vincent Gaughan found 27-year-old Wenceslao Arriaga not guilty of murder Wednesday, according to Cook County court records.

Arriaga was accused of the July 21, 2013, murder of the 20-year-old Ibarra, who was killed during a back-alley fight as he came to the aid of his younger brother, whom prosecutors said was fighting with members of the Latin Kings.
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By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Two teenage boys have been charged with the fatal shooting of Djuan Williams last week in the West Side Austin neighborhood.

Tiawyan McDade, 16, faces one count of first-degree murder, according to Cook County prosecutors. McDade’s accomplice, a 15-year-old boy, has been charged as a juvenile with first-degree murder.

About 6:12 p.m. on Feb. 24, Djuan Williams was walking with two other teens in the 5300 block of West Huron when McDade and another teen walked up and asked the group about their gang affiliations, Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Whang said at McDade’s bond hearing Thursday.

Williams and his friends denied any gang affiliations, and McDade’s friend then instructed McDade to shoot at them, Whang said.

McDade pulled a handgun from his waistband, pointed it at Williams and fired one shot, Whang said. McDade and his friend then ran eastbound on Huron Street.

Williams ran westbound on Huron before collapsing in a nearby alley, Whang said. He was taken to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, where he was pronounced dead with a through-and-through gunshot wound at 6:30 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 4900 block of West Thomas.
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By SAM CHARLES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A person of interest surrendered to police early Thursday after Darrin Joss was fatally shot in the gym of a River West apartment building Wednesday night.

Joss, 45, was shot in the head about 7:06 p.m. in the eighth-floor gym of the apartment building at 555 W. Kinzie, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Joss, who lived on the same block, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:48 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

Late Wednesday, Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted that the shooting was an “isolated incident” and that detectives “know who [the shooter] is and are actively looking.”
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By BRITTANY REYES
Homicide Watch Chicago

Aaren O’Connor wasn’t mixed up with the wrong crowd. She didn’t walk down an alley late at night, look at someone the wrong way or give anyone the wrong impression.

She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and, as she sat in her car in front of her Pilsen apartment, a stray bullet struck her in the back of the head–changing her loved ones’ lives forever.

O’Connor was a San Diego native with big dreams, a compassionate spirit, a sincere desire to travel and a wish to immerse herself in everything the present had to offer.

She cared deeply about family and friends, had a long love affair with anime, and was admired for her ability to connect to those around her with a warm smile and friendly personality.

The 25-year-old moved to Chicago about two years ago to start a job at TOMY International in Oak Brook, and to be closer to her boyfriend, Carlos Sorto, whom she met while studying in Japan as a University of San Diego undergraduate.
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By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

A Cook County Juvenile Court judge on Wednesday set a tentative May 16 trial date for the teenage girl accused of murdering Endia Martin.

Judge Stuart Katz had previously granted the defense’s motion for a jury trial. But prosecutors have filed a motion, asking him to reconsider his decision.

Katz is expected to give his ruling on the matter April 5, according to Cook County state’s attorney’s office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton.

The accused shooter, now 16, killed the 14-year-old Martin and wounded her best friend, Lanekia Reynolds, on April 28, 2014, following a feud on social media over a boy, according to prosecutors.
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William Bustos was fatally shot in the Back of the Yards neighborhood Tuesday evening, breaking a period of nearly 75 hours without a fatal shooting in the city.

The 20-year-old was walking in the 4400 block of South Hermitage Avenue about 6:15 p.m. when someone got out of a car, walked up to him and fired several shots, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Bustos, who lived in the 1700 block of West 43rd Street, was shot in the chest and head, and was pronounced dead at the scene less than 30 minutes later, authorities said.

It was Chicago’s first fatal shooting since Saturday afternoon, a span of nearly 75 hours that marked the city’s longest such stretch so far in 2016.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Police believe the fatal stabbing of Fredrick Brown Tuesday evening in West Garfield Park was the result of an argument over money.

Someone stabbed the 25-year-old Brown in the chest about 5:45 p.m. during a fight in the 3900 block of West Jackson, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Brown, who lived in the 3800 block of West Adams, was pronounced dead at the scene less than 30 minutes later, authorities said.

No one was in custody in connection with the stabbing, police said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By FRANK MAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

Even though homicides have spiraled to record levels in 2016, Chicago Police officials said Tuesday they’re optimistic, now that cops recently started making more street stops of potential criminals following a major six-week slowdown in police activity.

A total of 95 people were slain over the first two months of the year, the largest number of homicide victims in Chicago since 1999 and nearly double the body count over the same period of 2015 when 48 people were killed.

That number tops 100 when other deaths from the year are included, such as a fatal police shooting, homicides ruled self-defense and pending death investigations. The spike in homicides comes as the number of street stops by police plummeted from 111,831 in January and February 2015 to just 14,648 this year.

Cops have told the Chicago Sun-Times they’ve been afraid to make investigatory stops because of greater scrutiny over potential misconduct that followed the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video in November. The U.S. Justice Department and American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois have been busy scrutinizing police practices.
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By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Two men have been sentenced for their roles in the fatal stabbing of Lamont L. Larkins in the South Side Grand Boulevard neighborhood in 2013.

Jason Smith, 27; and Timothy Barber, 43, were both convicted last year of second-degree murder, according to Cook County court records.

Larkins was found by a friend stabbed multiple times in an alley in the 4000 block of South Calumet Avenue at 12:40 a.m. Aug. 30, 2013, authorities said at the time. Larkins, of the 4000 block of South Indiana Avenue, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Barber, of the 200 block of East 135th Place, was arrested about a month after the stabbing, police said after his arrest. Smith was arrested during a traffic stop in the 600 block of West Garfield Boulevard in January 2014.

Judge Charles Burns sentenced Barber to 27 years in prison Thursday, according to court records. He will receive credit for 881 days served in the Cook County Jail. Smith was sentenced to 12 years and will receive credit for 777 days served in the jail.

Both Barber and Smith were booked into the Stateville Correctional Center on Monday.