Homicide Watch Chicago

An 18-year-old man has been charged with fatally shooting John “Buck” Buckner, a civilian employee of the Chicago Police Department, last month outside his Morgan Park neighborhood home.

William Cochran | Chicago Police

Buckner was unloading groceries from his car near his home in the 11500 block of South Church about 8:40 p.m. when Cochran shot him, police said.

At the time of the shooting authorities said three males rode by on bicycles and opened fire along the block.

Buckner was shot in the abdomen, and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 10:25 p.m., police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
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Fifteen-year-old Davion Funches was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

Officers found the boy unresponsive on a sidewalk with gunshot wounds to the chest at 4:38 p.m. in the 6100 block of South Rockwell, according to Chicago Police.

He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:18 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy showed that Funches, who lived in the 6000 block of South Albany, died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner’s office. THe death was ruled a homicide.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Laquan King | Chicago Police

Laquan King, 20, of the 1400 block of South Ridgeway faces two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting that happened Aug. 16, according to Chicago Police.

McCollum, 16, and Phelps, 19, were at a dice game in the 1600 block of South Springfield about 9:45 p.m. when King walked up with a t-shirt covering his neck and face, and pulled out a firearm, according to prosecutors.

King shot McCollum in the head and Phelps tried to run away, but stumbled and fell, prosecutors said. King then picked up Phelps’s head and shot him multiple times in the neck, shoulder, ribcage, hip, buttocks and leg.
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By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Adrian Harris | Chicago Police

Adrian Harris, 33, was charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI causing death, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

Harris was driving in the westbound lanes of I-290 near Western Avenue about 4 a.m. when his car struck a pedestrian, later identified as the 41-year-old Rodriguez, according to Illinois State Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Harris stopped a short time later near Homan, state police said.

Rodriguez, of the 1800 block of South Peoria, was dead at the scene, authorities said. An autopsy ruled his death an accident.

Judge Laura Sullivan ordered Harris held on a $400,000 bond Monday, according to the state’s attorney’s office. He is next due in court Oct. 23.

By RUMMANNA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

Rockie Douglas | Chicago Police

Rockie Douglas, 36, was extradited from Wisconsin to Chicago to face charges of murder, aggravated vehicular hijacking with a weapon, and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

A security guard and two Chicago Police officers saw Douglas in a popular drug spot near 50th and Princeton on Dec. 21, 2013, Cook County prosecutors said.

The officers briefly spoke with Douglas and asked him to step out of his vehicle. That’s when Douglas allegedly took off, Assistant State’s Attorney Todd Kleist said.
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DeAngelo Birge was killed and another man wounded in a West Garfield Park neighborhood shooting Tuesday afternoon.

About 3:15 p.m., the two 24-year-olds were sitting in a vehicle in the 4400 block of West Maypole when someone walked up, fired into the car and ran away, according to Chicago Police.

Birge was shot in the head and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:46 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 4200 block of West Jackson.

The other man was also taken to Stroger with a gunshot wound to the hand. His condition stabilized, police said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Laquan King | Chicago Police

Laquan King, 20, faces two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting that happened Aug. 16, according to Chicago Police.

The victims were playing dice in the 1600 block of South Springfield about 9:45 p.m. when King walked up and fired shots, police said.
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By SAM CHARLES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Rockie Douglas | Chicago Police

Rockie Douglas, 36, was charged with two counts of murder, one count of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a weapon, and one count of possession of a stolen motor vehicle, according to Chicago Police. He was extradited from Wisconsin Tuesday and was expected to appear in bond court Wednesday.

Douglas, of north suburban Beach Park, stole a 60-year-old woman’s vehicle in the 800 block of West Irving Park Road about 11:20 a.m. on Dec. 21, 2013, police said.
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By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Jim Diaz | Cook County sheriff’s office

Jim Diaz, 29, was convicted of one count of second-degree murder in a bench trial before Judge James Linn on Aug. 20, according to Cook County court records.

Diaz stabbed the 26-year-old Ochoa-Deleon in the chest in their home in the 4800 block of North Drake about 7:15 p.m. on March 18, 2013, authorities said at the time.

Ochoa-Deleon was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston where he died the next day, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy found he died of multiple stab and incise wounds, and ruled his death a homicide.

Diaz, who was originally charged with first-degree murder, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday by Judge Linn. He will receive credit for 978 days served in the Cook County jail.

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 11 people died from violence in Chicago last week, including five who died in mass shootings Monday night and Tuesday morning; and a 20-year-old man who died after six years in a coma. A 12th person died when they were fatally struck by an alleged drunk driver on the Eisenhower Expressway.

Jeremy Gonzalez died Thursday night, nearly six years after he was shot in the head while walking with his mother in Logan Square.

Jeremy, known as Kiko, was 14 when he and his mother were walking in the 3400 block of West Armitage shortly after 9 a.m. on Dec. 8, 2009, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

That’s when a man or teenager with short, dark hair and a dark blue sweatshirt walked up, yelled gang slogans, and shot Gonzalez in the back of the head, police said at the time.

He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and later transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital; he spent the last six years in a coma, according to authorities and family members.
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