By JEFFMAYES and JAREDLANSMAN
Homicide Watch Chicago
At least 10 people were homicide victims last week in Chicago, including a woman working in the Loop who was shot down by her boyfriend, who then took his own life; and an unborn child killed in a crash, leading to reckless homicide charges.
But the death of a 14-year-old girl, who was shot in the head, was being called accidental by Chicago Police, and a 17-year-old boy was charged with involuntary manslaughter for her death.
The most recent killing happened Sunday evening, when a man and a 16-year-old boy where shot while playing dice in Lawndale.
Phelps, 19, and McCollum were playing dice in the 1800 block of South Springfield about 9:45 p.m. when two male suspects approached and fired shots, police said. Read more
A 27-year-old man was sentenced to 33 years in prison Friday after he pleaded guilty to fatally shooting Eugene Clark at an Englewood gas station two years ago.
Stanford Thompson | Chicago Police
Stanford Thompson pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder for the July 20, 2013, shooting that killed Clark, according to Chicago Police and Cook County court records.
Clark, 25, was pumping gas at a station in the 7100 block of South Ashland, and had just gotten back into his vehicle about 11:30 p.m. when Thompson ran up and shot him multiple times through the driver-side window, prosecutors said previously.
Two police officers heard the gunshots and saw Thompson running from the station with a gun in his hand, prosecutors said. Thompson looked in the direction of the officers and ran. Read more
Leroy Kelly Jr. was shot to death early Thursday in the Princeton Park neighborhood on the South Side.
The 30-year-old Kelly was found unresponsive about 3:10 a.m. inside a vehicle parked on the 200 block of West 93rd Place, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the face and neck and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Kelly, of the 9200 block of South LaSalle Street, was taken to Trinity Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:34 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.
Casanova West was shot to death while driving in the East Garfield Park neighborhood early Saturday.
The 27-year-old was driving near the intersection of Carroll and Central Park avenues about 2:05 a.m. when he was shot multiple times in the chest, back and arm, police said.
The vehicle he was driving then crashed into a pole in the 300 block of North Central Park.
West was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:37 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 200 block of North Central Avenue.
A Cook County judge denied bond Sunday for a 17-year-old boy accused of shooting 18-year-old Ricardo C. Mendez-Bucio to death as he sat in a vehicle Thursday afternoon in the Southwest Side Brighton Park neighborhood.
Eliseo Acosta is charged as an adult with first-degree murder for the attack in the 4600 block of South Western, authorities aid.
Mendez-Bucio was the front-seat passenger in a vehicle stopped at a red light on Western, waiting to turn left onto 47th Street, when Acosta walked by with a fellow Satan Disciples gang member, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
Acosta began showing gang signs and yelling at the car, in front of pedestrians and others in cars, prosecutors said. He allegedly walked to Mendez-Bucio’s side of the vehicle, pulled a handgun and fired one shot, striking him in the chest. Read more
19-year-old Jerome Phelps was killed and a teenage boy critically wounded in a shooting Sunday night in the Lawndale neighborhood on the Southwest Side.
The victims were playing dice in the 1800 block of South Springfield about 9:45 p.m. when two male suspects approached and fired shots, police said.
Phelps, shot multiple times, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:26 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 1800 block of South Ridgeway.
The 16-year-old boy was shot in the head and was in critical condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the fatal shooting of Ricardo C. Mendez-Bucio at a Brighton Park neighborhood gas station Thursday afternoon on the Southwest Side.
The teenage suspect, whose name was withheld because he is a minor, was charged as an adult with first-degree murder for the attack that happened just before 3 p.m. at the station in the 4700 block of South Western, according to Chicago Police.
Mendez-Bucio, 18, was sitting in a vehicle when the teen walked up and fired shots, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Mendez-Bucio, of the 4500 block of South Paulina, was taken to Stroger Hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest, and died at 3:32 p.m., authorities said.
Police suspect the shooting was gang-related.
The 17-year-old suspect is scheduled to appear in bond court Sunday.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Alex Malone died Saturday, about 20 hours after being shot in the head Friday night in the West Garfield Park neighborhood.
The 19-year-old Malone was outside about 6:40 p.m. in the 4100 block of West Wilcox when someone fired shots from a passing minivan, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died at 2:17 p.m. Saturday, authorities said. Malone had lived the 1600 block of South Spaulding.
Police did not have an update on the investigation Saturday evening.
Friends of a Alma B. Hernandez, killed in an apparent murder-suicide at a Loop loan store on Friday afternoon, say she was a devoted mom who spoke frequently about her two children.
Alma Hernandez | Baird & Warner
Authorities identified the dead as 45-year-old Richard Idrovo and the 44-year-old Hernandez, both of the 17700 block of Flannagan Court in Tinley Park.
Police say Idrovo walked into the back of the AmeriCash Loans store about 2:30 p.m. Friday and shot Hernandez twice. He then walked back to the front of the store and took his own life, according to Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, who spoke with reporters at the scene on Friday.
Neighbors in Tinley Park say they’re shocked. Read more
A man charged with reckless homicide after a Northwest Side crash on Wednesday seriously injured a pregnant woman and killed her unborn child is being held on a $2 million bond.
Ramon Marin | Chicago Police
Ramon Marin of the 3000 block of North Natoma faces one count each of reckless homicide of an unborn child, and aggravated reckless driving, police said in a statement. He was also cited for various moving violations.
The crash happened 9:30 p.m. Wednesday when the vehicle Marin was driving struck a 21-year-old woman’s parked car in the 6000 block of West Fullerton, police said.
The woman was sitting in her parked Mazda Protege when it was struck by the speeding, westbound Honda Acccord, which had swerved into oncoming traffic, police said. Read more
What is Homicide Watch Chicago?
Homicide Watch Chicago is dedicated to the proposition that murder is never a run-of-the-mill story. Attention must be paid to each one, not merely a select and particularly tragic few. We understand the reality of the public’s demand for news - that some stories get more attention than others. But all murders represent a degree of human suffering - direct and indirect - that cannot be ignored. Read more…
