Homicide Watch Chicago

Eighteen-year-old Jerrelle Elton Johnson Jr. was killed and a teenage boy was wounded in a shooting Sunday afternoon in the West Side Austin neighborhood.

The shooting happened about 2:40 p.m. in the 100 block of North Parkside, Chicago Police said.

Johnson was shot in the back and was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:52 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived on the Near West Side.

The 15-year-old boy suffered a gunshot wound to the shin, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.

The shooting happened in the same block where three men had been shot about 10:40 p.m. the night before.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Antoine Alexander was shot to death Monday morning while sitting in a vehicle on the block where he lived in the South Side Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

Alexander, 24, was sitting in a vehicle in the 8400 block of South Hermitage at 11:27 a.m., according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A suspect walked up to the car, pulled a gun and fired several rounds, according to police.

Alexander, who lived in the same block, was shot in the buttocks and back, authorities said.

He was was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 12:10 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Jermaine R. James was stabbed during an argument late Sunday in the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side and died minutes later on Monday morning.

The 35-year-old James was arguing with another male about 11:45 p.m. in the alley in the 400 block of East 79th Street, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The suspect then pulled out a knife and stabbed James multiple times in the body, authorities said.

James, who lived on the same block, was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:08 a.m. Monday, according to the medical examiner’s office.

The suspect ran away after the attack, police said. No one was in custody as Area South detectives investigate.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By ANDY GRIMM
Chicago Sun-Times

Chynna Stapleton | Cook County Sheriff’s Dept.

“She was fighting for her life,” Chynna Stapleton’s brother said after the 24-year-old was ordered held without bond Monday on a charge of first-degree murder for killing Lewis, a Chicago Police officer’s daughter.

Cook County prosecutors said Stapleton rammed Lewis with her Jeep Liberty, crushing her teenage rival against a tree, then driving the truck over Lewis several times.

“They jumped my sister. She was just trying to leave. Everybody is against her,” said Stapleton’s brother, dabbing the corners of his eyes with his T-shirt. “That lawyer, state’s attorney, whatever, doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Jamie Santini said Stapleton and Lewis had an “ongoing dispute” over Lewis’ boyfriend, who was also the father of one of Stapleton’s three children.
Read more

Tina Brown, 53 was found shot to death in her South Chicago neighborhood home early Saturday on the South Side, and the police said her death may have stemmed from a “domestic issue.”

About 12:20 a.m., the 53-year-old Brown was found with a gunshot wound to the head inside her home in the 8000 block of South Essex Avenue, authorities said. Police said the shooting might have been domestic-related.

An autopsy on Saturday ruled Brown’s death a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Sixteen-year-old Rayshon Price was shot to death Thursday evening on the block where he lived in the CHA’s Dearborn Homes public housing project on the South Side.

About 8:30 p.m., a vehicle pulled up in the 2700 block of South State Street and someone inside began shooting at a group of teens outside, according to Chicago Police.

The boy tried to run away, but was struck and fell inside a vestibule of a nearby building, police said.

Price, who lived on the asme block, was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:51 p.m., authorities said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By JEFF MAYES
Homicide Watch Chicago

At least 16 more people died from violence last week in Chicago, including five on Sunday alone, but possibly the most shocking involved a social media dispute that got out of hand.

The victim, the daughter of a Chicago cop, had been feuding with another woman on social media, and that eventually led to a physical confrontation Friday night in the Morgan Park neighborhood.

But one of the women, who was the mother of the victim’s boyfriend’s child, did not let it go, according to Cook County prosecutors. She got into her SUV, pinned the woman against a tree, and then ran her over twice.

When it was over, 24-year-old Chynna Stapleton was charged with first-degree murder for the death of 18-year-old Tatyanna Lewis, who was struck by the vehicle just after 11 p.m. in the 11400 block of South May, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Lewis was the daughter of a Chicago Police officer.
Read more

Cortez L. Brown of downstate Kankakee was shot to death Thursday evening in the Park Manor neighborhood on the South Side.

Brown, 29, was shot in his head at 6:37 p.m. in the 6900 block of South Indiana Avenue, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was outside when someone who got out of a Chevrolet Equinox and fired at him, police said.

He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man who was fatally shot Wednesday evening in the Fernwood neighborhood on the Far South Side has been identified as 26-year-old Melvin McCray of south suburban Posen.

At 8:04 p.m., McCray was in the 10200 block of South State Street when someone got out of a vehicle and shot him multiple times, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.

No arrests have been made and Area South detectives are investigating, police said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By ANDY GRIMM
Chicago Sun-Times

Antwan McNutt | Chicago Police

Antwan McNutt, 33, bludgeoned Johnson with a 1.70-liter bottle in full view of pedestrians near the 63rd Street Green Line stop, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Craig Taczy said at a bond hearing.

At least one passerby filmed the event with a camera phone.

“Please don’t tell me this was put on Facebook as well?” Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil asked the prosecutor.

“It was, your honor,” Taczy replied.
The video shows a man standing over the still form of another person lying on Ashland, swinging a “handle” of liquor in wide arcs and striking the victim about the head more than 20 times. Police said the attack took place around 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 28, 2016.
Read more