Latania Anderson was trying to break up a fight at a party in the Austin neighborhood party early Saturday when she was shot and killed.
Two people got into an argument about 5:25 a.m. while they were at the party in the 300 block of South Cicero, Chicago Police said.
Anderson, 27, stepped in between the two to break them up, but one of them, a male of unknown age, shot her in the head, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Anderson, who lived in the 4700 block of West Maypole, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
A man Found shot to death Thursday evening on the block where he lived in the Humboldt Park has been identified as Reginald Bonner.
The 37-year-old was in a vehicle in the 1100 block of North Springfield about 5:20 p.m. when another vehicle pulled up and someone inside opened fire, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Bonner was shot in the arm and chest, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:55 p.m., authorities said.
—Chicago SUn-Times Wire
Lorenzo Garcia was shot and killed early Saturday in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side.
Officers responding to a call of shots fired about 3:50 a.m. in the 4700 block of South Laflin Street found the 24-year-old Garcia outside with a gunshot wound to the head, according to Chicago Police and Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Garcia, who lived in the 4800 block of South Laflin, was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
By MITCHELL ARMENTROUT
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Hassan Childs died Wednesday, three days after being stabbed by a teenage girl Sunday in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side.
The 22-year-old Childs, who lived in the 7600 block of South Seeley Avenue, was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn at 9:37 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
An autopsy Saturday found he died of a stab wound to the chest, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Childs and a 15-year-old girl got into a fight about 1:15 a.m. Feb. 7 in the 7600 block of South Damen and the girl stabbed him, according to Chicago Police.
The girl was arrested at the scene and has been charged with aggravated battery, police said Saturday. Her name was not released because of her age.
Aaren O’Connor | Facebook
By DANIEL BROWN, JORDAN OWEN and JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Cook County Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 cash reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person responsible for the shooting death of Aaren O’Connor.
O’Connor died two days after she was struck by a stray bullet while talking to her father on the phone in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood on the South Side.
About 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5, Aaren O’Connor was sitting in her 2009 gray Honda Civic in the 2000 block of West 21st Place and talking to her father on her cellphone when she was struck by gunfire, according to Chicago Police.
O’Connor, who lived on the same block, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died two days later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
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His mother, Demetria Hudson (left), and his aunt, Shantesia Hudson, say Ronald Clarke was not a member of a gang, though some of his longtime friends were. | photo provided
By TIFFANY MITCHELL
Homicide Watch Chicago
When Ronald Jerome Clarke was fatally shot last month in the Back of the Yards, police said he was affiliated with a gang. Definitely not the case, according to his family.
“He was never a part of a gang because his parents and grandparents would not allow it,” his mother, Demetria Hudson, said. “He never sold drugs or indulged in any type of violence.”
According to his mother, “Ronald may have affiliated with gang members because they were his childhood friends, but he was not a gang member. These were Ronald’s childhood friends who killed him.
“Ronald was not a criminal; he was a hard worker who accomplished many things in life; he was just an all-around amazing man to know.”
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Lazane Clark died Wednesday evening, nearly a week after he was shot in the chest by an acquaintance during an argument in the Lake View neighborhood on the North Side.
At 10:55 a.m. Jan. 4, the 55-year-old Clark got into an argument with a 67-year-old man he knew in the 800 block of West Oakdale, authorities said. At some point the older man pulled out a gun and shot Clark in the chest.
Clark, who lived in the 2900 block of North Halsted, was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
An autopsy Thursday ruled his death a homicide.
The shooter called 911 and remained at the scene, where he was questioned by police, according to Ald. Tom Tunney. He said the man does have a valid concealed carry license.
“This is not a random incident,” Tunney said at the time.
Chicago Police said the shooter was later released without charges, and provided no update on the case as of Thursday afternoon.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
By JON SEIDEL
Chicago Sun-Times
The aunt of the girl accused of fatally shooting Endia Martin has been indicted by a federal grand jury for her role in the 14-year-old’s 2014 murder.
Vandetta Redwood | Chicago Police
faces 10 years in federal prison if convicted after she was indicted for giving a loaded .38-caliber revolver to a minor.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez ordered Redwood into custody Thursday after she pleaded not guilty at her arraignment, according to federal prosecutors.
Redwood invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify last month when she took the witness stand during the trial of her cousin, Donnell Flora. A jury found Flora guilty of first-degree murder in Martin’s death.
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By JORDAN OWEN and JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Aaren O’Connor was in her car, talking on the phone to her father in California, when she was struck by a stray bullet Friday night in the South Side Heart of Chicago neighborhood. Two days later she was dead.
About 7:30 p.m. Friday, the 25-year-old California native was sitting in her 2009 gray Honda Civic in the 2000 block of West 21st Place after work, talking to her father on her cellphone, according to Chicago Police.
That’s when a fight broke out down the block and shots were fired. One of the bullets went through the car window and struck her in the head.
Her roommate found O’Connor unresponsive in her car and she was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced brain dead at 4:48 p.m. Sunday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
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Robert Howard Jr. was a graduate of VALOR (Veterans Advancing Lives of Rescues). He was killed on Jan. 26 and is missed by loved ones, Safe Humane Chicago members, and his emotional support dog, Apollo.
By BRITTANY REYES
Homicide Watch Chicago
The death of Robert Howard Jr. left the dog he’d once rescued without a home and his best friend.
Howard, a 62-year-old Vietnam War veteran killed in a shooting in University Village on Jan. 26, was the proud owner of Apollo, a big, joyful puppy who was matched with Howard through Veterans Advancing the Lives of Rescues (VALOR).
VALOR is an 8-week Safe Humane Chicago program that pairs military veterans struggling with post traumatic stress disorder with animals that had been abused, neglected or used for fighting.
After struggling with PTSD since his three-year tour in Vietnam from 1970-73, Howard began participating in VALOR in early 2015. His experience with the program was so positive that he decided to adopt a dog for himself, according to Cynthia Bathurst, the organization’s executive director.
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