Homicide Watch Chicago

Derrick Swanigan was fatally shot Friday night in his home in the South Side Chatham neighborhood by someone he knew, according to police, but a person of interest who was questioned was later released.

Swanigan, 34, was shot in the chest during a fight with someone he knew inside his home in the 8000 block of South Evans just after 10 p.m. Friday, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Swanigan was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 10:58 p.m., authorities said.

Area South detectives questioned a person of interest after the shooting, but that person was released without being charged.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

De’Kayla Dansberry | Facebook

Associate Judge Stuart Paul Katz cited the girl’s age at the time of the murder, 13, as well as her good grades, when denying the prosecution’s motion for an extended juvenile jurisdiction, which would make the minor subject to an adult sentence if she failed to complete her juvenile sentence satisfactorily.

The girl could have chosen to stay home, not taken the knife her mother offered, or go unarmed to the fight on May 14, 2016, that led to De’Kayla’s “stupid and senseless” murder outside the Parkway Gardens housing complex, Katz said.

But the judge also noted that, based on her psychological evaluations and lack of disciplinary problems while in custody, the girl shows a “strong likelihood of rehabilitation.”

The girl may not have been physically beaten at home, but moving 13 times in the last five years was a form of abuse and neglect, Katz said.
Read more

Lawrence T. Matchem, known as a crusader for anti-violence efforts, became the latest victim of Chicago violence when the 49-year-old was shot to death Monday afternoon in the South Side Oakland neighborhood.

About 12:30 p.m., officers found Matchem unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head in the 800 block of East 40th Street, Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Matchem, who lived in the 4400 block of South La Crosse, was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:44 p.m., authorities said.

A video about Matchem, known to friends as “Bookie,” was posted on Facebook and had been viewed thousands of time by Tuesday morning.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Quenten Wright was shoveling snow in front of his home in the Far South Side Roseland neighborhood Monday morning when he was fatally shot.

Neighbors said the 53-year-old Wright was shoveling in the 11400 block of South King Drive about 11:45 a.m. when a man approached and tried to rob him. The robber then shot Wright in the head before running off.

Officers responding to a call of a person down found Wright on the ground near his home with a gunshot wound to the head and gunshot wounds to each arm, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Wright was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died about four hours later at 3:31 p.m., authorities said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man killed in a shooting that led to a crash that injured three other people last week in the South Side Englewood neighborhood has been identified as Nathaniel Lewis-Edwards of south suburban Lansing.

Lewis, 31, was letting a passenger out of his vehicle about 4 p.m. Thursday in the 7100 block of South Morgan when someone approached and began shooting, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He tried to drive away after being shot, but was involved in a crash with three other vehicles. Firefighters and police were initially called about the crash, authorities said.

Edwards was found inside his vehicle with a gunshot wound to the chest, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:28 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 18100 block of Crystal Lane in Lansing.

A 21-year-old woman who was inside Lewis’ vehicle was taken in good condition to Saint Bernard Hospital with minor injuries, police said.

A 63-year-old woman and 5-year-old boy, who were inside another vehicle involved in the crash, suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening, police said. The woman was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, and the boy to Comer Children’s Hospital. Both of their conditions were stabilized.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

George Evans | Cook County Sheriff’s Dept.

George R. Evans, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of reckless homicide with a motor vehicle before Judge Evelyn Clay, according to Cook County court records.

Evans was driving a rented Volkswagen on April 26, 2015, with his cousin and his cousin’s young children in the vehicle when he sped through a stoplight at 87th and Lafayette, and struck a woman while driving nearly 90 mph, prosecutors said at the time.

The impact catapulted the Hunter about 100 feet and shattered the window of the Volkswagen, prosecutors said.

Hunter was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. She lived in the 8200 block of South Kimbark.
Read more

Alfredo Ramos | Chicago Police

A man has been ordered held without after being charged with the April 24 murder of Justin T. Bowman in the Logan Square neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

Bond was denied Friday for 24-year-old Alfredo Ramos, charged with first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of the 25-year-old Bowman, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County sheriff’s office.

Bowman was walking with a group about 6:15 p.m. when Ramos got out of a car and opened fire, hitting Bowman in the chest, authorities allege.

Justin Bowman | Facebook

Bowman was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he died at 7:07 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The attack happened a half-mile from his home in the 3900 block of West Diversey.

Ramos is being held in the Cook County Jail. and his next court appearance is Dec. 28, according to the sheriff’s office.

Bowman, a graduate of Schurz High School, had been attending Lake Land College in downstate Mattoon.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Anthony “Mook G” Barr of south suburban Harvey was fatally shot Sunday afternoon while sitting in a vehicle in the Far South Side Riverdale neighborhood.

Barr, 45, was sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked blue SUV at 12:04 p.m. in the 300 block of East 136th Street, Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

He was when approached by two men, who opened fire and then ran away, police said.

Barr was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:32 p.m., authorities said. Known to friends as “Mook G,” he lived in the 15000 block of Vine Avenue in Harvey.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Nineteen-year-old Shaqwon I. Stidhun was killed Friday afternoon in a shooting just a block away from his home in the West Side Austin neighborhood.

At 3:17 p.m., Stidhun was standing in the 5500 block of West Crystal when two men approached him and one or both fired shots, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The men then drove away in an older model sedan.

Stidhun, who lived about a block away in the 5400 block of West Crystal, was taken to Loyola University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:07 p.m., authorities said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man who was shot Wednesday evening while driving in the West Side Lawndale neighborhood and died two days later was identified as 64-year-old Otis Hatchett.

At 6:35 p.m. Wednesday, Hatchett was driving a vehicle in the 1300 block of South Komensky, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Someone outside the vehicle started shooting, and he was struck in the head.

Hatchett was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died two days later at 11:05 p.m. Friday, authorities said. He lived in the 100 block of North Menard.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire