Homicide Watch Chicago

Following a deadly 2016 that saw nearly 800 homicides in the city, the Chicago Police Department has announced plans to reduce the violence in the new year.

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson | Sun-Times file photo by Ashlee Rezin

The majority of violence was not random, as more than 80 percent of shooting victims were identified by police as likely to be involved in gun violence, he said. Attacks on officers also nearly doubled last year, which Guglielmi said falls in line with statistics from the rest of the country.

Five districts on the North and Northwest sides saw declines in murder or remained the same, police said.

And officers were able to recover about 8,300 guns, a 20 percent increase from 2015.

“CPD took more bad guys with guns off the street in 2016 than we did in 2015,” Supt. Eddie Johnson said at a press conference.
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A shootout Sunday morning in a North Side Uptown neighborhood business left Maurice Delaney and Ali Mohamed dead, the first reported homicides of 2017 in Chicago, authorities said.

The men were shooting at each other about 4:25 a.m. New Year’s Day inside a business in the 4600 block of North Broadway, according to Chicago Police.

Delaney, 38, of the 9000 block of Skokie Boulevard in north suburban Skokie, was shot in the chest and right leg, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Mohamed, 31, of the 6400 block of North Oakley, was shot multiple times in his right side.

Both men were taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital, where they were pronounced dead at 5:19 a.m., authorities said.

Last year ended with 780 homicides in the city, the most in about 20 years, according to Chicago Sun-Times records.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

John Warship was shot to death early on New Year’s Day in the West Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side, Chicago Police said.

At 5:53 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to a call of a person down in the 4600 block of West Monroe.

They found the 39-year-old lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Warship was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:10 a.m.

He lived just a couple of blocks away in the 4400 block of West Wilcox, the medical examiner’s office said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

An argument after a traffic crash Saturday afternoon in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side led to the fatal shooting of Kenneth Weaver, according to authorities.

The 22-year-old Weaver was driving at 12:29 p.m. in the 4800 block of West Chicago when a Mercedes sideswiped his vehicle, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Someone got out of the Mercedes and began arguing with Weaver, authorities said. During the argument, the person who exited the Mercedes pulled out a gun and shot Weaver in the left side, police said.

He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:11 p.m., authorities said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Sylvia Brice was killed and another woman critically wounded in what police called a domestic stabbing Saturday afternoon in the Princeton Park neighborhood on the South Side.

The domestic-related attack happened at 2:08 p.m. in the 9300 block of South Wentworth, according to Chicago Police.

Brice, 52, was stabbed multiple times and was taken to University of Illinois Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 2:29 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy for Brice, a mother and grandmother who lived on the block where she was killed, found she died of multiple stab wounds in an assault and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.

A 30-year-old woman also suffered multiple stab wounds to the abdomen and was taken in critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to police.

No one was in custody as of Saturday afternoon.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Louis Pena found dead Friday morning after an assault inside his office trailer at his business in the Sleepy Hollow neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

Pena, 64, was found with trauma to the front of his head at 9:20 a.m. in the 4200 block of South Keating, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Officers were initially called to the location for a report of a person shot and said Pena was shot twice in the head, police said.

Pena, of the 3800 block of West 65th Street, was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:29 a.m., authorities said. An autopsy on Saturday showed he died of multiple blunt-force and sharp-force injuries from an assault. His death was ruled a homicide.

The owner of a trucking firm, he was found inside the office trailer of his business, according to police. No motive is known and no one was in custody as of Saturday evening.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Chicago Police say 19-year-old Carlos James was fatally shot by a man he attempted to rob Friday afternoon in the West Garfield Park neighborhood.

The 33-year-old man was in the 4800 block of West Ferdinand to purchase something he saw for sale online. He was confronted by the teen, who announced a robbery and showed a gun, police said. A struggle ensued, and James was shot in the chest about 12:25 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Jame, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:30 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the same block as the shooting.

Police said the older man suffered bruises during the struggle, and that a single gun was recovered at the scene. Area North detectives were investigating.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By SAM CHARLES
Chicago Sun-Times

Urban Prep Academy student Yuri Hardy was fatally shot while leaving a dance competition in Austin on Wednesday night.

The 19-year-old was the fourth Urban Prep student or alumnus to be shot to death in Chicago since the start of the year, according to a letter sent to the school community from the network’s founder and president, Tim King.

Hardy was walking south in the 100 block of North Central just before 8 p.m. Wednesday when he was shot, according to police. He lived in the 5000 block of West Congress, about a mile and a half from where he was shot.

He was unresponsive when officers arrived and was pronounced dead at 1:14 a.m. Thursday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. No one was in custody for the shooting as of Friday evening.

“It is difficult for me to comprehend that I’m writing yet another letter to you about another senseless act of violence against a member of our community,” King wrote.
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Jamil Shuaibi was shot Monday evening in the Back of the Yards neighborhood and died about five hours later.

At 5:51 p.m., the 25-year-old was walking in the 4400 block of South Hermitage when someone got out of a vehicle and fired shots, striking him multiple times, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Shuaibi was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 10:30 p.m., authorities said. He lived in the 8000 block of West Thomas Street. The medical examiner’s office identified him as Jamil Al-Shaubi.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Roosevelt Shaffer | Cook County Sheriff’s Dept.

Roosevelt Shaffer pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder before Judge Nicholas Ford, according to Cook County court records.

About 10 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2014, Shaffer and the 69-year-old Robinson got into argument about a jacket at the Bethel Terrace Senior Living facility at 900 W. 63rd St., authorities said at the time.

Shaffer then stabbed Robinson in the chest with a boning knife, authorities said. Robinson was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died about an hour later.

After the stabbing, Shaffer went to his apartment, had a cigarette and washed the knife, authorities said. He admitted to the attack and said he thought he only “nicked” Robinson.
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