Homicide Watch Chicago

Demica Porter was shot to death early Sunday just two blocks from her home in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side.

Officers responded to a call of shots fired at 12:24 a.m. and found the 27-year-old lying on the sidewalk in the 1400 block of West 54th Street, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Porter had been shot in the neck and legs. She was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died at 1:13 a.m., authorities said. She lived in the same neighborhood as the shooting.

No one was in custody early Sunday as Area Central detectives investigated.

Porter, known as “Baby D,” had attended Maine East and Senn high schools, before studying cosmetology at Truman College.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A woman found dead with multiple stab wounds early Saturday in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side has been identified as 44-year-old Latikiya K. Mcneely.

Officers responding to a call of a person down at 4:24 a.m. found Mcneely with a stab wound to the chest and two to the back in the 7000 block of South Emerald, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’a office.

She was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:39 a.m., authorities said.

Area South detectives were conducting a homicide investigation.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Jesus Bernabe was stabbed to death during a fight Saturday night in the Douglas Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

About 9:10 p.m, the 29-year-old Bernabe was sitting with several other people in an alley in the 2600 block of West 15th Street, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A fight broke out involving a man who was not part of the group. That man at some point pulled out a knife and stabbed Bernabe in the chest and neck before running away, authorities said.

Bernabe was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:55 p.m., authorities said. His home address was not known.

Area Central detectives were conducting a homicide investigation.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Andres G. Davila suffered gunshot wounds while riding in a vehicle in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the Southwest Side on August 5. A week later, he died of those injuries.

The 31-year-old Davila was riding in a vehicle at 5:44 a.m. Aug. 5 in the 2200 block of West 51st Street, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Someone outside the vehicle opened fire, striking him in the head and neck, and damaging a rear window, police said.

The driver of the vehicle took Davila to Holy Cross Hospital, and he was later transferred to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at 11:02 p.m. Saturday, authorities said. Davila lived a few blocks away from the shooting in the Gage Park neighborhood.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By BLAIR PADDOCK
Homicide Watch Chicago

Rashaad Crawford | Facebook

He had big aspirations, not only him and his sister, but for all the kids in the community.

“These kids looked up to him not only as a basketball coach, but as a mentor,” his girlfriend, Danielle Holmes, said.

But in a crime that sent shockwaves through the community, Crawford was shot in the chest and left arm on July 16 in the South Shore neighborhood. Two male suspects approached and shot him as he sat in a parked vehicle at 3:17 a.m. in the 2100 block of East 71st Street, according to Chicago Police.

He was taken to Northwestern Memorial hospital, where he died at 4:02 a.m., authorities said.

Crawford was hanging out with friends at the time of the shooting, Holmes said.
Read more

By MITCHELL ARMENTROUT
Chicago Sun-Times

Teryion Laws | Cook County Sheriff’s Dept.

Teryion Laws faces first-degree murder charges in the 18-year-old Horton’s April 21 death, according to Chicago Police.

About 7 p.m., they were inside a building in the 6500 block of South King Drive when Laws shot Horton in the upper back, authorities allege.

Horton, an Englewood resident, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died within the hour, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Another man, 25, was shot in the knee and was hospitalized in good condition, police said.

Laws, who was 17 at the time of the shooting and lived nearby, has not been charged with that attack, court records show.

He was arrested Thursday and ordered held on a $1 million bond by Judge Laura Marie Sullivan at a hearing on Friday. His next court date is Aug. 31.

Eight-six-year-old Donald L. McNamara was found shot to death Thursday afternoon in his South Side Canaryville neighborhood home.

McNamara’s daughter found him bleeding from his head just after 4 p.m. in the 4100 block of South Wallace, where he had lived for over 2 years, according to authorities and friends.

When paramedics arrived, they found a puncture wound to the back of his head, Chicago Police said.

McNamara was taken to Northwestern Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:31 p.m., authorities said.

An autopsy Friday found he died of a gunshot wound to the head and ruled his death a homicide, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Community activist Andrew Holmes, who is offering a $1,000 reward for information,” said McNamara, known to friends as “Donnie,” “didn’t deserve it. He’s 86 and we are going to do everything we can do help solve this case.”

Police are viewing surveillance video from the area in hopes of finding a suspect in the killing of McNamara, a military veteran and retired delivery driver who was the father of eight.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By MAUREEN O’Donnell, ASHLEE REZIN and JORDAN OWEN
Chicago SUn-Times

Jesus Angel De La O lived in northwest suburban Vernon Hills, but always had a strong connection to Chicago, and that is where he died early Thursday when he refused to turn over his vehicle to a carjackers in the Noble Square neighborhood on the North Side.

The 28-year-old was dropping off a female acquaintance in the 1200 block of North Greenview about 2:05 a.m. when another man exited a white vehicle nearby and attempted to carjack him, according to Chicago Police.

When he refused to give up his gray Infiniti, the suspect fired, striking him in the torso, police said. De La O tried to drive away, but crashed into a parked Nissan.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

No other injuries were reported.

“We’re optimistic that there’s some private [surveillance] video that could have captured the incident,” Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
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Jonathan D. Brown was killed and another man was critically wounded in a shooting Wednesday night in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

About 8:30 p.m., the men were standing on the sidewalk in the 6000 block South Maplewood when someone in a dark-colored SUV drove by and fired shots, according to Chicago Police.

Brown, 25, was shot in the chest and arm, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:53 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in Englewood.

A 23-year-old man was struck in his left arm and abdomen, and was taken in critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By JEFF MAYES
Homicide Watch Chicago

It may not seem like much of a victory, but only eight people were killed in Chicago last week, making it one of the least violent weeks of the entire year.

Statistics compiled by Homicide Watch Chicago show that there have only been four weeks in 2017 when less than 8 people were shot, and the last time it happened was way back in May.

Two of those killing may not be considered homicides by police, but rather cases of self-defense.

A 33-year-old man was killed Sunday morning in a domestic-related shooting in the Clearing neighborhood on the Southwest Side, and police seem to be treating it as a case of self-defense.

At 5:18 a.m., a 30-year-old woman was being battered by Damien Hernandez in the 6900 block of West 65th Street when she pulled out a gun and shot him three times, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Hernandez was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was initially taken into custody and police said charges were pending. However, on Tuesday, police said the woman had been released and no charges had been filed.

Similarly, after a Wisconsin man died Sunday night after he was shot the previous day in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side, a person of ointerest was released without charges.
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