Homicide Watch Chicago

Among the mothers taking part in the Vigil to End Gun Violence were, from right: Bouchelle Stokes, Gwen Baxter, Toneya McIntosh, Donna Hall, Shundra Robinson, Floressa Smith and “Mother” Morgan. | Kwijona Calvin/Homicide Watch Chicago

“I am not a stranger to pain. My husband and son are gone due to gun violence.”

That is the sad truth for Gwen Baxter, founder of the Greater Roseland Community Committee’s Youth Voices Against Violence, and many others who have lost loved one to violence in Chicago.

Last week, Baxter led the National Vigil for Victims of Gun Violence in Chicago at The Peace Center, where a gathering that might seem sorrowful to an outsider turned inspirational.

Women from the organization SISTERHOOD, a group of mothers who have lost children to gun violence, had the opportunity to share their personal stories about their children.

Donna Hall, mother of Marshall Fields-Hall, who was murdered at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen at 5500 W. North Ave on Jan. 18, 2013, set the tone for the evening.
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Kenneth Turner, who was critically wounded in a shooting last week in the West Side Austin neighborhood, died a day later at a hospital.

The 28-year-old was on the sidewalk in the 300 block of South Cicero just before 8 a.m. on Dec. 8 when he was approached by a man wearing black clothing, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The suspect fired multiple shots, then ran northbound through an alley, police said.

Turner, of the 3100 block of West Warren Boulevard, was shot at least once in the head and was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital where he died at 3:44 p.m. Dec. 9, authorities said.

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

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Demarco Bennett | Chicago Police

Demarco Bennett, 19, of the 6900 block of South Green Street was charged with first-degree murder and also faces various traffic citations, according to Chicago Police.

Donner, 26, was standing by himself at the corner of 72nd and May just after 10 a.m. when Bennett got out of the passenger side of a silver vehicle and shot him twice in the head, once in the neck and eight times in the body, according to prosecutors.

Donner, of the 7000 block of South Lowe, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at 10:41 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.
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A man has been charged with fatally shooting Andre D. Donner Jr. Sunday morning in Englewood.

Demarco Bennett | Chicago Police

Bennett fired shots at the 26-year-old Donner at 10:05 a.m. in the 7200 block of South May, police said.

Bennett then sped off in a vehicle, but officers were able to pull him over and arrest him after a short foot chase, police said. A second suspect was arrested but later released without charges.
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By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-times Wire

After a stretch of more than three days during which there were no homicides reported in the city, the week ended with three men fatally shot.

Two of them died over a violent weekend, during which at least 30 others were wounded in gunfire across the city.

The three fatalities marked the lowest homicide total for one week since two people were killed in the first week of the year, when two men were fatally shot during the week ending Jan. 4, marking the final homicide of 2014 and the first of this year.
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Andre D. Donner Jr. was shot to death Sunday morning in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side.

The shooting happened just after 10 a.m. in the 7200 block of South May, according to Chicago Police.

The 26-year-old Donner suffered a head wound and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at 10:41 a.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Donner lived in the 7000 block of South Lowe, authorities said.

The circumstances of the shooting were unknown.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Nineteen-year-old Northern Illinois University student Joseph Graves was fatally shot Friday night in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the South Side.

Joseph Graves

Graves, who lived in the 8400 block of South Green, was dead at the scene, authorities said.

He was a sophomore business major at NIU who graduated from Simeon Career Academy and was home on break when he was shot.
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Deontae Smith would have been 26 today, but he was fatally shot in 2009. In his honor a street dedication ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. Friday at 61st and Peoria.

A Chicago mother is still searching for answers in the death of her son.

“It’s been 6 years since his murder, I’ve had three billboards posted with a $10,000 reward and no one knows who killed my son,” Tonya Burch said.

Ambitious, polite and caring described Deontae Smith, a 19-year-old with dreams of joining the U.S. Air Force to support his family.

On Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, what started off as an unusual day for Burch became even stranger when she received inumerable calls from unfamiliar phone numbers after a long day of work as a cosmetology instructor at Capri Beauty School.

“I usually don’t work on Saturdays, but this particular Saturday an instructor called off and I volunteered to fill-in for her. Meanwhile, Deontae was at home and he called me, he was very excited because someone from the Air Force called him to schedule a interview,” Burch said.
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By DANIEL BROWN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Jacob Morales | Chicago Police

Jacob Morales, 18; and the teen are charged with first-degree murder for the Nov. 28, 2014, shooting, a statement from Chicago Police said.

About 11 p.m., Morales and the boy approached the 18-year-old Garcia in the 3600 block of West 25th Street and started talking to him, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. One of the suspects then pulled out a handgun and fired shots, striking Garcia under the right eye.

Garcia, who lived in the 2800 block of South Millard, was dead at the scene, authorities said.

Bond for Morales was set at $1 million Thursday, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office. His next court date is Dec. 29. Court information on the teen was not immediately available.

By JEFF MAYES
Homicide Watch Chicago
At least seven people were fatally shot in Chicago last week, four of them during a violent weekend during which nearly 30 shootings were reported by police.

A 29-year-old man was shot and killed Sunday morning in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side.

Brandon Miles was in the driver’s seat of a car when someone opened fire from another car about 6:15 a.m. in the 1000 block of West 50th Street, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Miles was taken to Stroger Hospital with gunshot wounds to his back and neck, and later died there, authorities said.

A 25-year-old man was found with fatal gunshot wounds Saturday morning in Humboldt Park. Officers found Frankie Gutierrez unresponsive in the passenger’s seat just after 7 a.m. in the 800 block of North Avers, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Gutierrez was pronounced dead on the way to Mount Sinai Hospital.
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