Homicide Watch Chicago

A teenage boy was killed during a shootout Sunday night outside a gas station on the South Side, according to police.

Alfredo Loza, 17, was standing outside the of the station in the 5200 block of South Western about 10:40 p.m. when a white car with a female driver and a male passenger pulled up, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

An argument ensued and the male passenger shot Loza, who then returned fire, authorities said.

Loza suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:18 p.m., authorities said.

He lived in the Gage Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

A gun was recovered at the scene, but it was not known whether the man in the car or anyone else was injured during the exchange of gunfire, police said.

Area Central detectives are investigating.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

David Hobson Jr. was shot to death early Sunday while driving in the South Chicago neighborhood.

The 44-year-old Hobson was driving north in the 7900 block of South Brandon about 2:40 a.m. when his vehicle crashed into a parked vehicle, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

When Hobson was pulled from the vehicle, paramedics discovered he had been shot in the left shoulder and head, authorities said.

Hobson, a Humboldt Park neighborhood resident, was taken to South Shore Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:45 a.m., authorities said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Maurice “Dirty Reese” Purnell of Elgin was killed in a drive-by shooting Saturday evening while visiting relatives in the West Side Austin neighborhood.

The 28-year-old Purnell was standing outside about 5 p.m. in the 1200 block of North Laramie when someone fired shots from a passing vehicle, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Purnell was shot in the upper chest and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, according to police. He he was pronounced dead there less than an hour later at 5:53 p.m., authorities said. An autopsy showed he died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medial examiner’s offce.

A family member said Purnell had formerly lived in Austin but had moved to northwest suburban Elgin to have a better place to raise his children. He had been visiting a relative’s home and had just left when he was shot.

The family member said he was referred to as “Dirty Reese” from the time he was 8 years old because his nose was often running and his eyes crusted because of an allergy.

She said Purnell was not in a gang, and not involved in any gang-related activities.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago SUn-Times Wire

Kenya Washington | Cook County Sheriff’s Dept.

Kenya Washington, 28, was charged Sunday with first-degree murder and attempted murder, according to Chicago Police. She was arrested about 12:30 a.m. Saturday in the 300 block of West Chestnut after police were notified that a wanted person was there.

A name check turned up an active warrant and Washington was taken into custody, police said. She was being held on a $1 million bond in the Cook County Jail, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.

Police said that at 5:06 p.m. May 17, Washington got into an argument in the 300 block of North Latrobe, then got into a vehicle and struck multiple people as she drove off.
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The death of a northwest suburban woman woman found in March in the Northwest Side Avondale neighborhood has been ruled a homicide, and authorities say Joanna A. Stawiarska was beaten to death.

The 43-year-old Palatine resident was found in a gangway at 7:50 a.m. March 17 in the 2900 block of North Hamlin, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

An autopsy did not immediately rule on Stawiarska’s cause of death, but has since found that she died of multiple injuries from an assault, according to the medical examiner’s office. Her death was ruled a homicide.

Area North detectives are investigating.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Andre Baker was fatally stabbed early Saturday after some type of altercation in the North Austin neighborhood on the West Side.

Officers doing a well-being check about 5 a.m. Saturday in the 1600 block of North Menard found the 44-year-old unresponsive with multiple stab wounds, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

It was later learned that Baker had suffered the stab wounds during a fight with another man and a woman, police said.

He was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he was pronounced dead at 5:27 a.m. Saturday, officials said. He lived in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, about four miles from where he was stabbed.

Area North detectives are investigating, but no one was in custody as of Monday morning.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Deangelo Pleasant, a 21-year-old west suburban man, was shot and killed Friday night in the West Garfield Park neighborhood.

About 6:30 p.m., Pleasant was standing on a porch in the 4700 block of West West End Avenue, Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Two male suspects jumped out of a yellow vehicle and began shooting at him, police said.

The gunmen got back into the vehicle and drove off after the shooting, police said.

Pleasant was struck in the head, and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about three hours later at 9:28 p.m., authorities said.

He lived in west suburban Cicero, according to the medical examiner’s office.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A woman found strangled early Thursday on a street in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side was identified as 58-year-old Catherine Saterfield-Buchanan.

She was found unresponsive at 1:14 a.m. in the 3500 block of West Huron, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Police initially said she had suffered “blunt trauma to the face” and had “defensive wounds on her body.” But an autopsy Thursday found Saterfield-Buchanan had been strangled, and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s officer.

The medical examiner’s office said her home address was unknown. A police source said she lived in the neighborhood.

Community activist Andrew Holmes said neighbors in the area said the woman was partially naked when she was found.

“She’s somebody’s mother, auntie and somebody’s sister, and unfortunately they’re gonna get that news this morning, once she’s identified,” Holmes said Thursday morning.

The incident came less than a week after 17-year-old Tiara Viramontes was killed and a 30-year-old man wounded in a shooting in the same block.

They were in the back of a building at 4:48 a.m. Sunday when someone opened fire, authorities said at the time. Viramontes, who lived on the block, was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital about 12 hours later.

A man killed Wednesday afternoon in an Englewood neighborhood shooting on the South Side has been identified as a 29-year-old Chris Williams, who lived on the same block where he was shot.

Officers responded to a call of shots fired in the 7000 block of South Parnell about 2:15 p.m June 21. They found Williams suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:35 p.m., authorities said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

The death of Naisha Weems, who was struck by a vehicle and dragged last month in the West Side Austin neighborhood, has been ruled a homicide.

Naisha Weems | Facebook

She was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where she died at 8:54 p.m.

Autopsy results were initially listed as pending, but on Friday, the medical examiner’s office said Weems died from multiple blunt force injuries due to a motor vehicle striking a pedestrian. Her death was ruled a homicide.

Police at the time said a 28-year-old woman, whose identity was known to investigators, got into an argument that evening, then got into her vehicle and struck multiple people as she drove away.

No one else sought medical treatment following the crash, authorities said.

Police said Friday that no arrests have been made in the case, and the investigation is ongoing.

Weems was the granddaughter of the late Daniel J. Weems, a retired Chicago Police detective who died in 2013. She attended the Academy for Scholastic Achievement, and worked for Sodexo, the food service provider for the Shedd Aquarium.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire and Homicide Watch Chicago