Homicide Watch Chicago

Juan Jose Martinez Serrano was found shot to death Saturday morning in the Archer Heights neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

The 29-year-old was found sitting in his car, unresponsive, at 3:44 a.m. in the 3900 block of West 47th Street, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his head, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:02 a.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. His home address was unknown.

No one was is in custody and Area Central detectives are investigating.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Joseph Gates died Saturday, four days after he was shot in the Far South Side Morgan Park neighborhood on Halloween.

About 1:30 p.m. Oct. 31, the 29-year-old Gates was standing in the 11300 block of South Aberdeen, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A vehicle pulled up and someone inside began shooting, police said.

Gates, a resident of south suburban Dolton, was shot in the left buttocks, left hip and right knee, police said.

He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 7:33 a.m. Saturday, authorities said.

Area South detectives were investigating.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A party turned deadly Saturday night when Pamela Enge was fatally shot and a man wounded in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side.

Pamela Enge | Facebook

Both victims were at a party shortly before midnight at an apartment in the 100 block of East 117th Place, according to Chicago Police.

Shots rang out and the 37-year-old Enge was struck in the head, according to police and Cook County medical examiner’s office. She was Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she died at 1:39 a.m. She lived in the Far South Side Roseland neighborhood.

The 25-year-old man was shot in the right leg and was also taken to Christ, police said. His condition was stabilized.

There was no one in custody as Area South detectives investigate.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 13 people died from violence the week of October 23-29 in Chicago. The victims included 10 people who where fatally shot, including two who police said were killed in “accidental” shootings.

The homicides considered accidental by police were the shootings of a 16-year-old girl and a 21-year-old woman, police said.

Eshunte Mayfield | Facebook

The girl, identified as Eshani Mayfield, died less than 30 minutes after an acquaintance was handling a gun and it accidentally discharged, stirking Mayfield in the eye Sunday evening in Woodlawn, police said.

Three people have been charged in connection with the shooting that killed the Amundsen High School cheerleader. Joshua Baker, 19, who lives on the same block, was charged with one felony count of obstruction of justice for destroying evidence from the shooting, according to Chicago Police. Baker was released on his own recognizance.

A 16-year-old girl, whose identity was not released, was charged as a juvenile with involuntary manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. SHe is the one who was allegedly holding the gun when it went off. A 17-year-old boy was charged as a juvenile with obstructing justice and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to prosecutors. Both teens were ordered held in custody until their next hearing Dec. 1, according to the state’s attorney’s office.

A 21-year-old woman also died of an accidental gunshot in the Portage Park neighborhood, police said.

Nadia Manjarrez | Facebook

About 10 p.m. Saturday night, 21-year-old Nadia Manjarrez and a 37-year-old man were inside a home in the 4800 block of West Hutchinson when the gun went off, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Manjarrez, who lived in the neighborhood, was shot in the head and was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Manjarrez was a 2014 graduate of Round Lake High School. An autopsy did not rule on her cause and manner of death, with results pending further investigation, the medical examiner’s office said.

The gun was recovered and the man, whom friends said was Manjarrez’ boyfriend, was initially detained for questioning, police said. He was later released without charges as Area North detectives continue to investigate.

Other homicides last week included:

• Two men were shot to death Friday morning in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the West Side. Just after 10 a.m., the victims were in a vehicle in the 3400 block of West Augusta, according to police. A person walked up to the vehicle and engaged them in conversation, then started firing shots. Kenta Ali Holifield, 39, was shot multiple times in the chest and head, and was found inside the vehicle, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Holifield, an Indianapolis resident, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Lonnie Hartman, 31, was shot multiple times and was found in the street, police said. Hartman, a West Side Austin neighborhood resident, was taken to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Autopsies found both men died of multiple gunshot wounds.

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A man shot to death Wednesday afternoon in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side was identified as 24-year-old South Side resident Steven Edward Wheeler.

Steven Edward Wheeler | Contributed photo

At 2:21 p.m., Wheeler was shot in the upper back in the 3300 block of West Congress Parkway, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The circumstances of the shooting were not known.

Wheeler was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:52 p.m., the medical examiner’s office said. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the back.

He lived in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man found dead more than a month ago in the South Side Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood had been shot in the head, and his death has been ruled a homicide. But authorities still do not know his name.

At 1:10 p.m. on Sept. 28, officers found the victim, believed to be in his mid-60s, “severely decomposed” in the 7600 block of South Prairie, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The victim remained unidentified as of Friday, according to the medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy at the time did not rule on cause and manner of death, but has since found that he died of a gunshot wound to the right side of the head. His death has been ruled a homicide, authorities said.

No one was in custody as detectives investigate.

Jeromee D. Russell died after being shot several times while driving, then crashing his vehicle Wednesday morning in the South Chicago neighborhood.

At 10:52 a.m., the 22-year-old Russell was driving in the 2700 block of East 80th Street when he was shot multiple times, Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

He then crashed his car into another vehicle.

Russell, whom the medical examiner’s office said lived on the South Side, was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:15 a.m. by paramedics, authorities said.

An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Chicago Police and state child welfare authorities are investigating after the death of Raamse Lan’Pharay Morris, a 5-month-old boy from the South Side Woodlawn neighborhood, was ruled a homicide.

At 9:30 p.m. on Friday, July 28, police officers responded to a call of a baby with visible signs of trauma at the University of Chicago Medical Center, according to police.

Raamse was later transferred to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he died at 7:07 p.m. Aug. 5, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy did not immediately rule on the baby’s cause and manner of death, with results pending further investigation. But this week, the medical examiner’s offices ruled that Raamse died of multiple injuries due to child abuse. His death has been ruled a homicide.

The state Department of Children and Family Services is investigating allegations of abuse and neglect, according to an agency spokesperson. DCFS had not had prior contact with the child.

The Area Central Special Victims Unit is also conducting a homicide investigation.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Apache White tried to drive away, but after being shot in the head Monday morning in the West Side Austin neighborhood, he crashed his car, which rolled over in the street.

At 8:24 a.m., the 47-year-old White was inside a vehicle during a drug sale in the 0-100 block of South Lockwood, Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Someone walked up to the car with a gun and shot him in the head, according to police.

White drove off fafter being shot, but his car collided with another vehicle about a block away, causing it to flip over near Lockwood and Monroe, authorities said.

He was taken to Loretto Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:35 a.m. White lived in the Galewood neighborhood. An autopsy Wednesday found White died of a gunshot wound to the chest and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.

A second person who was in the vehicle with White was not injured, police said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire