Homicide Watch Chicago

By JACOB WITTICH and JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Samantha Salazar | Cook County Sheriff’s Dept.

A 27-year-old woman is facing reckless homicide charges after her passenger, James E. Pickett, was killed in a single-car crash late Sunday in the South Loop that police say was caused by drunk driving.

Samantha Salazar is charged with felony counts of reckless homicide by motor vehicle, and aggravated DUI causing accident or death; and misdemeanor counts of DUI and driving on a suspended license, according to Chicago Police.

About 11:40 p.m. Sunday, police responded to the 1100 block of South Indiana and found two people inside a 2011 Lincoln sedan that was disabled near a brick embankment, police said. Damage to the vehicle suggested it had been involved in a crash.

Pickett, 52; and Salazar, the driver, were both extricated from the car by firefighters, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Both were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where Pickett was pronounced dead at 1:03 a.m. Monday, authorities said. He lived in the South Side Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

An autopsy showed he died of multiple blunt force injuries from a vehicle striking a fixed object, and his death was ruled an accident, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Salazar, of the Humboldt Park neighborhood, suffered injuries to her right leg and remained hospitalized as of Wednesday, authorities said. In addition to the criminal charges, she was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and operating a motor vehicle without insurance.

She was ordered held at the Cook County Jail on a $750,000 bond, and is next scheduled to appear in court Friday, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.

By ELIZABETH CZAPSKI
Homicide Watch Chicago

LaDarryl Walls recalled his cousin, D’Ante J. Swanson, was his grandmother’s “right-hand man.” His three main activities were helping his grandmother, whom he called “Grams”; making music, and going to work, Walls said.

D’Ante Swanson | photo provided

It was after getting off work on Jan. 5 that Swanson was shot to death Jan. 5 while sitting in his car in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side.

Someone walked up to the 28-year-old about 11:15 p.m. as he sat in the driver’s seat of his car, parked in front of the Hyde Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the 800 block of East 46th Street, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The suspect fired repeatedly, striking Swanson several times across the body, police said. Swanson, also known as “Taye” or “Newz” died at the scene, authorities said.

Swanson worked for FedEx, but it was not clear if robbery was the motive for the shooting. He had stopped in the neighborhood to visit family members after getting off work when he was attacked.
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A man killed in a shooting that also left another critically wounded Friday evening in the Longwood Manor neighborhood on the South Side has been identified as Ulysses Pole III.

At 5:32 p.m., the men were in the 200 block of West 98th Place when someone opened fire and they were struck, according to Chicago Police.

The 27-year-old Pole was shot multiple times, and a 26-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of his abdomen, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The younger man drove them to Roseland Hospital, where Pole was pronounced dead at 5:37 p.m. The younger man was listed in critical condition, police said.

Pole was a resident of south suburban Lansing.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Edgar Romero was killed in a shooting early Monday in the Gage Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

The 38-year-old got out of a vehicle he was driving about 1:45 a.m. in the 2700 block of West 51st Street, then got into an altercation with two male passengers, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Romero was beaten, and then one of the passengers then took out a gun and shot him in the head, authorities said.

The two passengers then got back into the car and drove away southbound.

Romero, who lived in the West Side North Lawndale neighborhood, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:21 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy Tuesday found he died of multiple gunshot wounds, and multiple blunt force injuries from an assault, according to the medical examiner’s office. His death was ruled a homicide.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with funeral expenses for Romero, a father of two girls.

The author of the page wrote: “Edgar Romero was son, brother, uncle and father of two beautiful girls whom he left behind.” She said Ropmero, who worked as a barber and DJ, “was always smiling, joking, and specially always full of live. Never turn his back on no one. He trust turned into tragic…”

No one was in custody as of Tuesday morning.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man killed Friday night in a drive-by shooting in the Hermosa neighborhood on the Northwest Side has been identified as 31-year-old Adrian John Nieves.

At 11:04 p.m., Nieves was sitting in the back seat of a minivan parked in the 4300 block of West Altgeld, Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

That’s when someone fired shots from a passing gray vehicle, police said.

Nieves was shot in the head and was taken to Community First Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said. Nieves’ home address was not known.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man who was fatally shot Friday evening in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side has been identified as 31-year-old Alfred “Tony” Stovall Jr.

Just after 7 p.m., Stovall was found unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds in the 600 block of North Lorel Avenue, according to Chicago Police.

He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 7:36 p.m., authorities said. He lived about a mile away in the South Austin neighborhood.

No one was in custody for the shooting as of Saturday morning.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

David Haynes, Jr. was shot to death Thursday afternoon, just about a block away from his home in the South Chicago neighborhood.

The 36-year-old Haynes was in the 8400 block of South Paxton about 5 p.m. when a vehicle pulled up and someone inside fired shots, Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

He suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including a wound to the chest, and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities.

No one was in custody as of Monday morning.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Fifteen-year-old Xavier Soto, who was shot along with another teen Thursday night in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood on the Northwest Side, died of his injuries two days later.

Soto was with a 16-year-old boy at 8:03 p.m. Thursday in the 4900 block of West George, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A vehicle approached them and someone inside fired multiple shots, according to police.

Soto was shot in the head and was in initially listed in critical condition, police said. The older boy was in serious condition after being shot in the buttocks, thigh and arm.

Both were taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where Soto was pronounced dead at 4:09 p.m. Saturday, according to authorities. He lived on the block where he was shot.

No one was in custody as of Monday morning.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Johnta “Da Drop” McComb was fatally shot Friday morning in the West Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side.

About 11:15 a.m., two men with guns walked up to the 27-year-old in the 200 block of South Kilpatrick Avenue and fired shots, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

McComb hwas hit in the back and buttocks, and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 12:07 p.m., authorities said. He lived in the Austin neighborhood.

McComb attended Douglas and Austin Community high schools, and was employed at Foot Locker.

No one was in custody as of Sunday morning.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Diamond Turner, a 21-year-old woman whose body was found in a dumpster last month in the South Side Grand Crossing neighborhood, was beaten and asphyxiated, an autopsy has shown.

Diamond Turner | Facebook

An autopsy at the time did not rule on Turner’s cause or manner of death, but further investigation determined she died of asphyxia and blunt force trauma to the head, and her death has been ruled in a homicide, authorities said early Saturday.

Turner lived just a block away from where she was found. Her body was thought to have been there for a few days.

No arrests have been made in the case.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire