Homicide Watch Chicago

Justin Thomas was walking in the Far South Side Roseland neighborhood Tuesday night when someone shot him in the eye.

Just after 9 p.m., the 30-year-old Thomas was on the sidewalk in the 10000 block of South Michigan Avenue when someone in a dark-colored car opened fire, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Thomas, who lived in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, was hit in the left eye and was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:10 p.m., authorities said.

No one was in custody as Area South detectives investigate.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Jose Correa was preparing to leave for work Wednesday morning, but he never made it. His wife found the 60-year-old shot to death in his garage in the Little Village neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

A family member found Correa lying unresponsive on the floor of the garage in the 2700 block of South Central Park Avenue at 7:26 a.m., according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Correa had suffered gunshot wounds to the back, neck and mouth; and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said. He lived on the same block.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with funeral for Correa, who had been married for 40 years and was planning to renew his wedding vows in June.

“He was a kind and loving husband, father, grandfather, uncle, brother, and friend. He was a hard dedicated worker and was his family’s rock,” a family member said on the GoFundMe page.

“This is such a tragedy and we are trying to cope with this great loss and hope that we find justice for Jose and our family. He didn’t deserve to pass this way.”

A murder investigation is under way by Area Central detectives.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 19 people died from violence in one of the deadliest weeks of the year across Chicago. The victims included an 11-year-old girl caught in crossfire while playing near a South Side school; a 12-year-old girl shot while sitting in a relative’s van; and a 2-year-old boy killed when gang members fatally shot his uncle.

The 19 deaths, including the three young children, were the highest weekly total of the year so far in Chicago, matching the total from the week of Jan. 15-21. At least five homicides were reported in one day twice last week.

“One victim of one shooting is one too many, but when innocent children are caught in the crossfire of gun violence and young people have their childhood stolen by stray bullets, our consciences are shaken and our hearts are broken,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement Tuesday.

• The 11-year-old girl died at Comer Children’s Hospital on Tuesday morning after being struck in the head by a stray bullet on Saturday night. Takiya Holmes was sitting in a van in the 6500 block of South King Drive when she was struck by what police believe was a stray bullet, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. She died about 8 a.m Tuesday after being on life support since the shooting.
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A man found shot to death Monday night in a field in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood on the Far South Side has been identified as 27-year-old Michael Lawrence-Harrington.

Officers responding to a call of shots fired about 8:15 p.m. in the 900 block of East 132nd Street found him lying in a field with gunshot wounds to the chest and torso, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Lawrence-Harrington was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at 9:25 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the Chatham neighborhood.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man shot to death Tuesday morning in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side has been identified as 24-year-old Donnell Richmond, who lived in the neighborhood.

Richmond was in a vehicle with another person at 6:14 a.m. in the 7300 block of South May when that person fired shots, Chicago Police said.

When officers arrived, they found Richmond lying on the ground nearby, with gunshot wounds to the chest, arm and hand. He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 7:03 a.m., authorities said.

The shooter sped away from the scene in the red vehicle, heading south on May, police said. He was described as a black male with dreadlocks wearing a black hoodie.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By MATTHEW HENDRICKSON
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

The 19-year-old man charged with firing the stray bullet that struck and killed 11-year-old Takiya Holmes was beaten by a Cook County Jail inmate while awaiting a bond hearing at a county courthouse last week.

The beating was captured on video, which was released by the Cook County sheriff’s office.

The surveillance video shows an inmate approaching a dozing Antwan Jones, who is handcuffed to a chair in street clothes before his hearing Wednesday on murder charges at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.

The inmate, identified by the sheriff’s office as 24-year-old Renard Williams, walks up to Jones and strikes him with a right-handed punch to his head. Williams was able to land several other punches before being grabbed by a sheriff’s employee and pulled away.
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Two men stabbed each other during a fight early Monday in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side, leaving Delray Talbert dead and the other man hospitalized.

Talbert, 33, and a 37-year-old man got into a fight about 1:50 a.m. inside a home in the 3100 block of West Madison, according to Chicago Police, who said they did not know what started the argument.

Talbert was stabbed in the chest and abdomen, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died about 5 1/2 hours later at 7:21 a.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy showed that Talbert, who lived on the same block as the fight, died of multiple stab and incise wounds, and ruled his death a homicide.

The older man was taken to Stroger Hospital with a stab wound to the abdomen, police said. He was listed in serious condition.

Detectives questioned him, but he was released without being charged with a crime, police said Wednesday morning.

By SAM CHARLES
Chicago Sun-Times

As Judge Peggy Chiampas reminded the court how young 2-year-old Lavontay White Jr. was when he was fatally shot earlier this week, along with his uncle Lazarec Collins, a Chicago Police officer seated in the press area of Cook County bond court scoffed and shook his head.

Chiampas ordered Devon Swan, 26, to be held without bond Saturday afternoon, after he was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder for the Valentine’s Day shooting deaths of Lavontay and his 26-year-old uncle in the 2300 block of South Kenneth. Collins’ 21-year-old girlfriend, who is 4 months pregnant, was injured in the attack.

The judge added that, under state law, the shooting qualifies “as brutal, heinous, wanton cruelty.”

Prosecutors told the judge the shooting was retribution for the shooting death of one of Swan’s friends, a killing he believed Collins was responsible for.
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By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A Far South Side woman accused of starving her 2-month-old son Jashawn McBride to death two years ago has been ordered on a $2 million bond.

Shawnquail Minnis, 23, faces one felony count of first-degree murder, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

Minnis gave birth to a full-term, healthy baby boy on Sept. 13, 2014, prosecutors said. At the time of his birth, Jashawn weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces.

The baby lived with Minnis and her mother in the 10900 block of South Indiana, prosecutors said. Minnis was his sole caretaker.
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By MITCHELL ARMENTROUT
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man has been charged with setting a garage fire last fall in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood that left 59-year-old Venancio Veracruz Benitez dead.

Thomas Stafford, 23, faces counts of first-degree murder and aggravated arson for the Sept. 16, 2016, blaze in the 2100 block of West 21st Street, according to Chicago Police.

Firefighters found Benitez dead after they extinguished the fire that tore through a garage about 3 a.m., according to fire officials and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
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