Armonte Hooper | Chicago Police
By
JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
While Armonte Hooper fired the shots that killed a man in the lobby of a hotel near McCormick Place two weeks ago, James Briscoe was right there, encouraging his friend to “finish off” the victim.
Briscoe, 23, was ordered held on a $1 million bond Friday by Judge Laura Sullivan after being charged with first-degree murder in the death of 25-year-old Courtney Taylor, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
Hooper, 23, was previously charged with first-degree murder for the shooting at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place at 2233 S. King Dr., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He is being held without bond.
On Jan. 23, Taylor and several friends were attending a party in a suite at the Hyatt, assistant state’s attorney Jamie Santini said in court Friday. About 2:20 a.m., Taylor and friends were leaving when another man approached him in the lobby and accused him him hitting on his girlfriend.
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By FRANK MAIN, SAM CHARLES, STEFANO ESPOSITO, ASHLEE REZIN, ANDY GRIMM and MITCH DUDEK
Chicago Sun-Times
Members of the Martinez family who were slain in their Gage Park home. | Photo from family’s gofundme page
Chicago Police said Friday there were no signs that anyone had ransacked a house where six people, including two young boys, had been slain, and that the doors of the Gage Park neighborhood home had been locked from inside.
The victims — two men, two women and two boys ages 10 and 13, three generations of the same family — were found slain Thursday afternoon on the Southwest Side after police checked on the well-being of a man who didn’t show up to work for days, authorities said.
Family members and the medical examiner’s office have 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. The office did not speculate on what kind of weapon was used.
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James Briscoe | Chicago Police
A second suspect has been charged with murder for a shooting about two weeks ago in the lobby of a hotel near McCormick Place that left
Courtney Taylor dead.
James Briscoe, 23, has been charged with first-degree murder, Chicago Police announced Friday morning.
Armonte Hooper, 23, was previously charged with first-degree murder for the shooting that left the 25-year-old Taylor dead in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place at 2233 S. King Dr., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
About 2:20 a.m. Jan. 23, Taylor was among several people fighting in the hotel lobby when someone pulled out a gun and shot him in the head, authorities said at the time.
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Maria Ramos was stabbed to death Thursday morning in a laundromat in the Pilsen neighborhood on the South Side in what police are calling a domestic-related attack.
The 34-year-old was stabbed in the head in the 1700 block of West Cermak at 8:23 a.m., according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Ramos was pronounced dead at the SpinCycle laundry at 8:50 a.m., authorities said. She lived in the 2000 block of West Cullerton.
Police believe the attack was domestic-related.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Phalyon McFarthing | Chicago Police
A man has been charged with murder for fatally beating his friend,
Algie Ferguson, during an argument over money in an elevator in a Rogers Park apartment building on the North Side last month.
Phalyon McFarthing, 46, was charged Thursday with first-degree murder, aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated battery for the death of 61-year-old Algie Ferguson, authorities said.
McFarthing and Ferguson were friends who had known each other for several years, Assistant State’s Attorney April Gonzales said at a bond hearing Thursday.
About 11:45 p.m. Jan. 23, the two men got into an argument in an elevator in Ferguson’s apartment building in the 6800 block of North Sheridan Road, Gonzales said.
When officers responded, they found McFarthing punching Ferguson in the elevater on the fifth floor while rifling through his pockets, Gonzales said. Ferguson’s pants and underwear were down by his knees.
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Sixteen-year-old Martel Anderson was fatally shot Wednesday morning in the West Side Austin neighborhood.
The teen was walking on the sidewalk in the 5000 block of West Ferdinand about 8:10 a.m. when two male suspects walked up, and one pulled out a handgun and opened fire, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Anderson was shot in the face and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:53 a.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 5000 block of West Ohio.
Anderson was a student at Orr Academy, where he played football and basketball.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Hector Del Rio was killed Tuesday night in a drive-by shooting on the block where he lived in the South Chicago neighborhood.
The 21-year-old was standing with another person on the sidewalk in the 8100 block of South Houston about 10:30 p.m. when a silver or gray minivan drove past and someone inside fired shots, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Del Rio suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the buttocks and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:42 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the same block where the shooting happened.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
A 34-year-old man who was fatally shot late Saturday in the West Side Humboldt Park neighborhood has been identified as Floyd Hodges.
Hodges was walking on the sidewalk about 10:45 p.m. in the 1100 block of North Springfield when two people approached him, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. One person took out a gun and shot him multiple times before the suspects ran away.
Hodges was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:15 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 5500 block of West Gladys.
An autopsy found he died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Edward Flowers of west suburban Cicero was shot to death early Monday in the West Side Austin neighborhood.
The shooting happened about 12:30 a.m. in the 500 block of South Cicero, Chicago Police said. He was found outside the back door of a business.
The 42-year-old Flowers was shot in the upper torso and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:45 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 5700 block of West Roosevelt in Cicero.
An autopsy found he died of a gunshot wound to the back and his death was ruled a homicide.
Police said potential witnesses have been uncooperative.
Friends have set up a special Facebook page, RIP Edward FLowers (Pot), to share memories of the man they called “Pot.”
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
By BRITTANY REYES
Homicide Watch Chicago
“79th Street Matters” is a painting by San Diego artist Brian Meyer memorializing victims of violence on the South Side of Chicago last year. The painting incorporates the names of those killed in 2015. | photos provided
For a West Coast artist, what started as a conversation on Facebook turned into a special work of art memorializing the lives of victims killed on Chicago’s 79th Street corridor last year.
The watercolor painting by Brian Meyer, an artist from San Diego, California, features protesters marching together, carrying signs that read, “Stop the Violence” and “Black Lives Matter.” In the foreground, among the leafy trees and dark buildings, the names of lives lost can be read in thin black paint.
Meyer said he began the project on Nov. 14, 2015, and finished the canvas on Nov. 22, right before attending a morning Mass at 1st Church of the Brethren in San Diego. He said church members “prayed for peace in a world gone mad. We prayed for Paris, for Mali, for Lebanon, for Nigeria, but we also prayed for Chicago.”
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