Alleged gang member gets 50 years for fatally shooting Donald Lewis on Near North Side in 2013

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Donald Lewis | photo provided

Donald Lewis | photo provided

An alleged member of the Gangster Disciples was sentenced to 50 years in prison Monday for fatally shooting 25-year-old Donald Lewis on the Near North Side in 2013.

Kenneth McDonald, 27, was found guilty of six counts of murder after a bench trial before Judge Williams Hooks, according to Cook County court records.

McDonald shot Donald Lewis about 4 a.m. July 21, 2013, near the 800 block of North Cambridge, according to prosecutors. McDonald walked up to Lewis and a group of people standing outside, pulled a gun and started shooting.

Lewis was shot multiple times and dropped off at Northwestern Memorial, where he later died, according to police.

One of the witnesses who was standing with Lewis also pulled a gun and started firing at McDonald, who was hit several times, prosecutors said. McDonald then dropped his gun and collapsed. He was taken to Northwestern with multiple gunshot wounds.
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Woman gets 8 years in prison for fatally stabbing ex-boyfriend Kahlin Holloway during argument in 2013

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Shardonnae Pruitt | Chicago Police

Shardonnae Pruitt | Chicago Police

A South Side woman was sentenced to eight years in prison Monday stabbing ex-boyfriend Kahlin Holloway to death in 2013.

Shardonnae Pruitt, 22, was found guilty of second-degree murder on Nov. 19 after a bench trial before Judge Nicholas Ford, according to Cook County court records.

Pruitt had dated the 22-year-old Holloway, but the relationship ended after she found out he had another girlfriend and a child in the suburbs, but the pair continued fighting on social media, prosecutors said.

Holloway went to Pruitt’s house in the 9600 block of South Merrion Avenue on Dec. 15, 2013, to confront her about statements she made about him online, prosecutors said. The two argued for a bit before Holloway left to hang out with two of their mutual friends.
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Man found shot to death in Chicago Lawn identified as 21-year-old Darius Brown

A man found shot to death in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood Friday night on the Southwest Side has been identified as 21-year-old Darius C.E. Brown.

Officers responding to a call of shots fired about 9 p.m. found Brown, who had been shot repeatedly in the head, inside a minivan parked in the 6600 block of South Fairfield, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Brown was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:35 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 7900 block of South Whipple.

An autopsy found he died of a gunshot wound to the head and his death was ruled a homicide.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

18-year-old Ronell Andrews found shot to death in the street near his home in Austin

Ronell Andrews was found shot to death in the street Monday night just about a block from his home in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side.

About 9:20 p.m., officers responding to a call of a person shot found the 18-year-old lying facedown in the street in the 700 block of North Lavergne, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Andrews, who lived in the 600 block of North Lavergne, was shot several times in the chest and abdomen, and was dead at the scene, authorities said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 16 people died from gunshot wounds in Chicago during the first full week of 2016

rockwell-CST-032812-3.JPGBy JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

The new year got off to a bloody start in Chicago, with at least 16 people, five of them teenagers, killed in shootings across the city last week, including at least four who died in a series of shootings Friday night.

The week ended violently with more than 30 people shot, and seven killed, from Friday night through Sunday.

One man was killed and a woman wounded in a shooting Saturday afternoon in Back of the Yards. Erick L. Lacey and the woman, both 19, were sitting in a vehicle in the 5200 block of South Peoria about 2 p.m. when a car pulled up behind them and someone inside started firing, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Lacey, who lived in the 5100 block of South May Street, was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. The woman was shot in the back and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where her condition was stabilized.

Two teenage armed robbers were shot to death by a liquor store employee Saturday night in Auburn Gresham. Police responded to a call of an attempted robbery at Z&S Food and Liquor at 1351 W. 87th St. just after 8:30 p.m., authorities said.
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$1 million bond for man charged with 2015 fatal shooting of Ismael Lopez in Back of the Yards

By MITCH DUDEK
Chicago Sun-Times

Juan Vasquez | Chicago Police

Juan Vasquez | Chicago Police


A man was ordered held on $1 million bond Sunday, charged with the fatal gang-related shooting of Ismael Lopez last spring in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.

Juan A. Vasquez, 20, was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting that stemmed from a years-long gang dispute, according to Cook County.

Vasquez, of the 6000 block of South Wolcott Avenue, allegedly shot and killed Lopez, 24, on the afternoon of April 29, 2015. The shooting happened in the 4800 block of South Winchester Avenue.

Lopez, of the 1500 block of Elm Street in Berwyn, was struck in the abdomen and died a short time later.

Authorities said eyewitnesses identified Vasquez as the shooter.

Man charged with murder for acting as lookout during fatal shooting of Craig Harris on Christmas Eve

By MITCH DUDEK
Chicago Sun-Times

Maurice Pearson | Chicago Police

Maurice Pearson | Chicago Police

A 19-year-old man who admitted acting as a lookout for the fatal Christmas Eve shooting of Craig Harris has been charged with first-degree murder.

Maurice Pearson and an accomplice met the 30-yeqard-old Harris at his home on the 7300 block of South Vernon to sell Harris a gun about 5 p.m. Dec. 24, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Molly Donnelly said in court Sunday.

But the sale fell through, and Harris was found a short time later in the gangway next to his home with two bullet wounds to the face and his pockets turned out, missing $200, Donnelly said.
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Convicted killer charged with concealing death for stuffing Dominique Ferguson’s body into suitcase

Arthur Cain | Chicago Police

Arthur Cain | Chicago Police

By MITCH DUDEK
Chicago Sun-Times

A South Side man on parole from a murder conviction is charged with concealing a death in the case of Dominique Ferguson, whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase in a Roseland alley.

Arthur Cain, 53, told police he got spooked when some children saw him lugging the suitcase down an alley Dec. 27, so he ditched it in the 300 block of West 115 Street, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Molly Donnelly said in court Sunday.

The children opened the suitcase and found the body, later identified as Dominique Ferguson, 21.
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Two men charged with murder after 17-year-old David Gonzalez shot down in Brighton Park

Sergio Gonzalez (left), Jose Juarez | Chicago Police

Sergio Gonzalez (left), Jose Juarez | Chicago Police

By MITCH DUDEK
Chicago Sun-Times

Bond was set at $1 each million Sunday for fatally shooting 17-year-old David Gonzalez in a Brighton Park neighborhood drive-by shooting late Thursday.

Sergio Gonzalez and Jose Juarez, both 20, opened fire from a white SUV as it passed the boy on the 3100 block of West 41st Place about 10:30 p.m., Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Molly Donnelly said in court.

Gonzalez and Juarez then sped off as the teen lay dying, struck by eight bullets, Donnelly said.
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Police: Teens Keshawn Marzette and William Larson killed trying to rob Auburn Gresham liquor store

Two teenagers were shot to death Saturday night while trying to rob a South Side liquor store, according to police. | Daniel Brown / Sun-Times Wire

Two teenagers were shot to death Saturday night while trying to rob a South Side liquor store, according to police. | Daniel Brown / Sun-Times Wire

By DANIEL BROWN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Two armed teenagers—Keshawn Marzette and William Larson—were shot to death by an employee Saturday night as they tried to rob a liquor store in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on the South Side.

Officers responded to a call of an attempted robbery at Z&S Food and Liquor, at 1351 W. 87th St., just after 8:30 p.m., authorities said.

Two teenagers walked into the store about 30 minutes earlier and announced a robbery. When one of the suspects showed a handgun, a male employee took out his own weapon and fatally shot the two would-be robbers, according to Chicago Police.
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