Fabian Ortega fatally shot while driving in Gage Park on Christmas morning

Fabian Ortega was shot to death early Christmas morning in the Gage Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

At 1:33 a.m., the 18-year-old Ortega was driving north in the 5300 block of South Francisco when shots rang out and he was struck in the neck and back, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Ortega, of the 3500 block of West 83rd Place, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:16 a.m., police and the medical examiner’s office said.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with funeral expenses.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Derrick Jones and Stephen Tucker shot to death in front of home on block where they lived in Austin

Cousins Derrick Jones and Stephen Tucker were shot to death on the block where they lived in the West Side Austin neighborhood late Friday.

Authorities investigate a double homicide outside an Austin neighborhood home late Friday. | Network Video Productions

Authorities investigate a double homicide outside an Austin neighborhood home late Friday. | Network Video Productions


At 10:50 p.m., the 20-year-old Tucker and 21-year-old Jones walked outside after a phone conversation inside a home in the 500 block of North Laramie, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

At least one person opened fire on them as they walked out, police said.

Jones was shot across the body and was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:19 p.m. Tucker, known to friends as Sosa Lex, died at Mount Sinai Hospital at 11:44 p.m. after suffering wounds to the head and back, authorities said.

Both lived on the block where they were killed.

Authorities investigate a double homicide outside an Austin neighborhood home late Friday. | Network Video Productions

Authorities investigate a double homicide outside an Austin neighborhood home late Friday. | Network Video Productions

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Death of Quesola Mimms ruled homicide, three months after her head was found in the McKinley Park lagoon

By JORDAN OWEN and SAM CHARLES
Chicago Sun-Times

Community activist Andrew Holmes (center) speaks last month at the McKinley Park lagoon, where the head of 20-year-old Quesola Mimms was found last September. | Sam Charles/Sun-Times

Community activist Andrew Holmes (center) speaks last month at the McKinley Park lagoon, where the head of 20-year-old Quesola Mimms was found last September. | Sam Charles/Sun-Times


Three months after her remains were found in the McKinley Park lagoon on the Southwest Side in September, the death of 20-year-old Quesola Mimms has been ruled a homicide.

Mimms’ head was found in a bag in the lagoon by a park district worker about 10 a.m. Sept. 23, authorities said at the time. Though the lagoon was drained, the rest of her body has yet to be found.

An autopsy at the time did not rule on cause and manner of death, but has since been ruled homicide by unspecified means, the Cook County medical examiner’s office announced Thursday.

Her last contact with her family had been Sept. 21, but no missing person report was ever filed for Mimms, according to Chicago Police.
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Richard Chambers shot to death in South Shore, ending city’s longest streak of days without fatal shooting

Richard Chambers was killed and another man was wounded in a shooting Thursday afternoon in the South Shore neighborhood, ending the longest stretch of days without a fatal shooting that Chicago witnesses all year.

The 21-year-old Chambers was standing on a sidewalk with a 20-year-old man in the 7900 block of South Exchange at 1:11 p.m. when a white SUV drove down the street and someone inside opened the rear door and started shooting, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Both men were taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where Chambers died of a head wound at 2:11 p.m., authorities said. He lived in the 100 block of East 114th Place.

The younger man was shot in the right foot and was listed in good condition, police said.

Chambers’ death marked the city’s first fatal shooting in more than four days, the longest stretch without a fatal shooting this year. The last fatal shooting had happened at 12:52 a.m. Sunday in the Albany Park neighborhood.

Previously, the longest period of time without a fatal shooting was just over 81 hours—3 days, 9 hours and 23 minutes—in late April.

So far in 2016, there have been at least 769 homicides in the city, including 11 people who died this year after being shot, stabbed or assaulted in previous years. Of those homicides, at least 693 were gun-related, according to Chicago Sun-Times records.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

WEEK IN REVIEW: 15 killed in Chicago, including 4 during robbery at what cops called a Far South Side drug house

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
rockwell-CST-032812-3.JPG
At least 15 people were killed in Chicago last week, including four who were slain in what police called a robbery or home invasion as a home where drugs were being sold on the Far South Side.

The Fernwood massacre occurred Saturday at what Chicago Police called “dope house” in the 100 block of West 105th Street. However, it wasn’t clear exactly when the shootings happened.

Officers were called at 12:39 p.m. to the home and found Elijah Jackson, 36; Shacora Jackson, 40; and Nateyah Yafah Hines, 19, dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. All three lived in the house. A fourth person, 45-year-old Scott Travis Thompson of southwest suburban Romeoville was also found dead.

Shacora Jackson suffered multiple gunshot wounds, while the otherss each suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head, according to the medical examiner’s office. A fifth victim, an 18-year-old woman found outside with at least one gunshot wound, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she remained in critical condition. A 2-year-old boy was unharmed and was taken to Roseland Community Hospital for observation.

The week’s killings pushed the city total to more than 750 for 2016.

  • The week’s last homicide occurred Sunday morning in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side. Joel Planas, 34, was involved in a fight with another man at 12:52 a.m. in the 3100 block of West Irving Park Road when the person he was fighting pulled a gun and fired, striking him in the abdomen, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Planas was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was died about 5 hours later, police said.
  • A southwest suburban man was shot to death Friday night in the Belmont Heights neighborhood on the Northwest Side. Just after 10 p.m., 28-year-old Crispin Coliz Jr. got into an argument with two men inside a convenience store, authorities said.
    Read more

Man stabbed to death during domestic dispute in North Kenwood identified as Anthony Durham

Authorities have identified the man who was stabbed to death Monday night in the North Kenwood neighborhood on the South Side as 58-year-old Anthony Durham.

Anthony Durham was stabbed in the chest at 7:37 p.m. during a domestic altercation in the 4300 block of South Ellis, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Durham, who lived in the same block, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:46 p.m., the medical examiner’s office said. An autopsy ruled his death a homicide.

Police initially said someone was taken into custody in connection with the stabbing, but that person was later released without charges. Area Central detectives are investigating.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Rehomore Spivey, charged with killing Michael Gipson, called ‘dangerous’ by judge, ordered held without bond

By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

Rehomore Spivey | Chicago Police

Rehomore Spivey | Chicago Police


A Chatham man accused of shooting his girlfriend’s cousin Michael M. Gipson to death after beating her after a party at their apartment was called “dangerous” by the judge who ordered him held without bond.

Assistant State’s Attorney Bryan Grissman didn’t say whether 40-year-old Gipson was trying to break up the fight, but said the woman’s daughter and aunt, who lived on the building’s first floor, tried to intervene before the shots were fired Nov. 20.

Earlier that morning, Rehomore Spivey left a party that he and his girlfriend were hosting because he thought a guest was cheating in a card game.

He left the gathering after arguing with the others, but eventually returned and sulked in his room until 3 a.m., Grissman said.
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Damon Rogers charged with fatal shooting of Maurice McKnight in what prosecutors call gang dispute

By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

Damon Rogers | Cook County Sheriff's Dept.

Damon Rogers | Cook County Sheriff’s Dept.


A reputed gang member was ordered held without bond Thursday for allegedly killing Maurice “Dough Boy” McKnight and shooting at his two cousins outside the Altgeld Gardens apartment complex.

Damon Rogers killed McKnight on Sept. 19 in the 13000 block of South Langley, Cook County prosecutors said.

One of McKnight’s cousins, a 20-year-old man, was shot in the chest, but survived, Assistant State’s Attorney Kristin Estrada said. McKnight’s other cousin, a 24-year-old man, wasn’t injured.

Rogers, who went to Las Vegas after the shooting, was extradited to Chicago this week and admitted his role in the shootings, Estrada said.

The three victims were Gangster Disciples, while Rogers is a Mickey Cobra, Estrada said.
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Death of Rolando Gamino, shot during argument in Little Village in October, ruled a homicide

Rolando Gamino of East Chicago, Indiana, was shot to death during an argument in a Little Village apartment in October, and his death has now been ruled a homicide.

Gamino, 30, was in an argument with another man in the 3100 block of South Central Park about 4:20 a.m. Oct. 9 when the suspect pulled out a handgun and opened fire, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Gamino, of the 5000 block of Baring Avenue in East Chicago, was shot in the chest and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, authorities said. He died at the hospital at 9:34 a.m.

An autopsy at the time did not rule on cause and manner of death, with results pending further investigation, but the medical examiner’s office has since ruled he died of a gunshot wound to the chest and his death was ruled a homicide.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Manuel Guzman dies 24 years after being shot in 1992, and his death has now been ruled a homicide

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times

Little Village resident Manuel Guzman, who was shot more than 20 years ago, died at his home in October, and now his death has been ruled a homicide.

Guzman, 46, was found unresponsive in his home in the 2800 block of West 21st Street about 8 a.m. Oct. 4, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died at 1:05 p.m., authorities said.

An autopsy at the time did not rule on his cause and manner of death, but has since found that he died of heart disease, according to the medical examiner’s office. Pneumonia and chronic kidney disease due to the remote gunshot wound were listed as contributing factors, and his death was ruled a homicide.

Guzman was shot in the winter of 1992, according to the medical examiner’s office. Details about the shooting, and whether anyone was ever charged, weren’t immediately available from police.

Area Central detectives are investigating.