Homicide Watch Chicago

Dwight Hughes Jr. was killed in a Humboldt Park neighborhood shooting Sunday afternoon that also left a second man wounded.

About 12:45 p.m., the 21-year-old Hughes was outside in the 3900 block of West Augusta when three people walked out of an alley and one of them started shooting, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Hughes, of the 3400 block of West Foster, was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:06 a.m., authorities said.

An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the neck, and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.

A 20-year-old man was also shot in the head, right arm and torso at the same location, police said. He took himself to Norwegian American Hospital and was was transferred to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 17 people were killed in violence in Chicago in the last week, including one of the most shocking crimes in the city in recent memory in which six members of the same family, including two young boys, were found slain in a home that one responding police officer called a “bloody mess.”

Chicago Police said there were no signs that anyone had ransacked a house where six people, three generations of one Mexican immigrant family, had been slain. The victims—two men, two women and two boys ages 10 and 13,—were found dead Thursday afternoon after police checked on the well-being of a man who didn’t show up to work for two days.

Family members and the medical examiner’s office identified the victims as: 62-year-old Noe Martinez Sr. and his wife, 58-year-old Rosaura Martinez; their adult children, 38-year-old Noe Martinez Jr. and 32-year-old Maria Herminia Martinez; and Herminia’s sons, 10-year-old Alexis Cruz and 13-year-old Leonardo Cruz.

Autopsies found the boys suffered “sharp force” injuries, which a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office defined as either a stabbing or cutting wound, or both. Herminia Martinez died of gunshot wounds. Noe Martinez Sr. died of “sharp force” wounds. And his wife and his son, Noe Jr., died of “multiple sharp and blunt force injuries,” autopsies showed.

While a police source said the family was targeted, no motive for the crime has been given, and no suspects were in custody four days later.

The last homicide of the week left one man dead and another wounded in a Humboldt Park neighborhood shooting Sunday afternoon. About 12:45 p.m., 21-year-old Dwight Hughes Jr. was outside in the 3900 block of West Augusta when three people walked out of an alley and one of them started shooting, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
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James Lewis was shot Monday morning while driving through the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, and he died two hours later.

The 35-year-old was driving near 69th and Marshfield when shots rang out about 9:50 a.m., according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He kept driving for about another block, and finally stopped near 69th and Paulina, police said.

That’s where Lewis was found in the vehicle suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at 11:58 a.m., authorities said.

He lived in the 6600 block of South Winchester.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Khalie Early | Illinois Dept. of Corrections

Khalie Early, 21, was found guilty of murder and aggravated battery with discharge of a firearm on Jan. 7 after a trial, according to Cook County court records.

Early, an admitted member of the Black P-Stone gang, went to 86th and Escanaba on Sept. 28, 2014, because he knew the area was controlled by the Vice Lords, prosecutors said at the time.

Early, armed with a loaded semi-automatic handgun, was looking for revenge for the shooting of a fellow gang member, prosecutors said.
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By MITCHELL ARMENTROUT
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Brandon Perkins | Chicago Police

Brandon Perkins, 22, was arrested on a first-degree murder warrant Wednesday for the Sept. 5, 2014, incident in the 5800 block of North Mobile, according to Chicago Police. Brittney Mitchell, 19; and 23-year-old Orhan Cerimagic have been held without bond on murder charges since then, Homicide Watch Chicago reported previously.

Mitchell thought an acquaintance, later identified as the 35-year-old Gunawardana, had a large stash of drugs at his home and schemed to steal them along with Perkins, Orhan Cerimagic and his 20-year-old brother Miran, prosecutors said at Mitchell’s bond hearing in the days after the attack.
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By MITCHELL ARMENTROUT
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Sabrina Shaffer | Chicago Police

Sabrina Shaffer, 45, faces first-degree murder charges for the December 2015 attack at West’s home in the 4500 block of North Sheridan, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office

Someone called police for a well-being check after they hadn’t heard from West, and officers found him “seriously battered” inside the apartment about 3:45 p.m. Dec. 26, police said at the time.
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John Mackey was killed and another man wounded in a shooting Thursday evening in a restaurant in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Mackey, 18, and a 20-year-old man were inside the diner just before 5:30 p.m. in the 3700 block of West Division. That’s when someone came in and opened fire, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Mackey was shot in the head, while the older man suffered a gunshot wound to the arm, authorities said.

They were both taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where Mackey was pronounced dead at 6:06 p.m., authorities said. He lived in the 2600 block of West Potomac Avenue.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Matthew W. Williams was inside an apartment in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood late Friday when a bullet came through a window and struck him in the back. He died less than an hour later.

The 21-year-old Williams was shot in the back in a basement apartment in the 7100 block of South Calumet about 11:25 p.m., according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Williams, of the 1000 block of East 46th Street, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:08 a.m. Saturday.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By LUKE WILUSZ and JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Georgio Byrd Jr. | Facebook

Georgio Edward Byrd Jr. died at Roseland Community Hospital on Nov. 18, 2015, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 11500 block of South Perry.

Area South detectives were called to the hospital after the boy’s death, and the state Department of Children and Family Services was notified.

His death was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner’s office after an autopsy showed the baby died of blunt-force injuries.
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Tony Jones died about 3 1/2 hours after being shot Thursday evening while walking in the Austin neighborhood.

The 18-year-old was walking in the 5900 block of West LeMoyne Street about 7:40 p.m. when he heard gunfire and felt pain, according to Chicago Police.

He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the abdomen and back, but was able to make it to the 1400 block of North Mayfield Avenue, where authorities were notified, police said.

Jones was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he died at 11:13 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 2700 block of West Concord Place.

An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the back.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire