By JEFFMAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
At least 12 people were killed in violence in Chicago last week, including a 21-month-old girl allegedly beaten to death by her mother’s boyfriend, and two boys ages 16 and 17 killed in separate shootings on the West Side.
Cook County prosecutors allege that 22-year-old Uriel Vega was baby-sitting Raiylana Vasquez on Tuesday, Nov. 7, when he pulled the infant off the couch, threw her across the kitchen and into a bedroom, and then stomped on her stomach. Vega is being hjeld without bond on a first-degree murder charge.
It happened Tuesday morning in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Authorities responded to the 4700 block of South Honore at 11:22 a.m. and found Raiylana unresponsive, Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. She had suffered “obvious” signs of trauma.
Raiylana was taken to Holy Cross Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy found she died of multiple injuries due to child abuse, and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.
The state Department of Children and Family Services is also investigating the mother’s boyfriend for allegations of abuse and neglect, according to a spokeswoman.
A teenage boy was the week’s first homicide, fatally shot Monday afternoon in West Garfield Park. Someone walked up to 16-year-old Clarence Coakley about 3:30 p.m. in the 4600 block of West Lake Street and shot him repeatedly in the upper torso, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene.
Roy Love was shot to death in the West Side Austin neighborhood Wednesday night, according to Chicago Police.
Officers responding about 8 p.m. to a call of a person down found the 31-year-old Love bleeding on the sidewalk in the 5200 block of West Quincy, police said.
Love suffered a gunshot wound to the right shoulder and was taken to Loretto Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:40 p.m., according to the police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the shoulder, with the bullet entering his torso.
An 18-year-old man who died after being shot while walking Tuesday afternoon in the South Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side has been identified as Aaron Perez.
About 2:15 p.m., Perez and another 18-year-old man were walking north in the 2300 block of South Whipple when they heard gunfire, according to Chicago Police.
Both were hit, and were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where Perez was pronounced dead of a gunshot wound to the head at 2:56 p.m., authorities said.
The other man was shot in the shoulder and back. His condition was stabilized, according to police.
Darian Tyler died four days after an East Garfield Park shooting that left three other men wounded last week on the West Side.
About 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, the men were standing outside in the 3400 block of West Monroe when a gray vehicle pulled up and at least one person inside opened fire before driving away, according to Chicago Police.
Tyler, 23, was shot in the face and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 3500 block of West 5th Avenue.
A 20-year-old shot in the abdomen was taken in serious condition to Stroger, along with a 27-year-old listed in good condition with a graze wound to the arm. The fourth victim, 24, was shot in the arm, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in fair condition, police said.
No one was in custody for the shooting as of Friday morning.
David Martinez was fatally shot Wednesday evening on the block where he lived in the Southwest Side Little Village neighborhood.
Martinez, 21, was outside about 6:40 p.m. in the 2600 block of West Luther when someone opened fire from a vehicle, hitting him in the head, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Martinez, who lived on the same block, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died at 7:04 p.m., authorities said.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Kamel Harris told someone he “snapped” when he killed 2-year-old Kyrian Knox and threw the toddler’s dismembered body into the Garfield Park lagoon, Cook County prosecutors said in court Wednesday.
The Rockford man also confessed to another person that he had “f—– up” and “something terrible happened” just days before the boy’s body parts—including his head—were found inside a plastic bag attached to barbell weights in the water over Labor Day weekend last year, Assistant State’s Attorney Jamie Santini said.
Harris was allegedly under the impression that if a body was found without a head, Kyrian couldn’t be identified. He also figured the severed body parts would decompose, making if difficult to extract fingerprints, prosecutors said.
Though it took more than a year to arrest Harris for murder, concealment of a homicidal death and dismembering a human body, forensic tests confirmed the DNA evidence from the remains matched those of Kyrian, authorities said.
While Santini didn’t provide further explanation as to how the boy was killed in late August 2015, he said Harris wrapped Kyrian’s lifeless body, placed it in the backseat of a borrowed Chevrolet Camaro, and drove to Chicago where he cut it up and disposed of it. Read more
A man has been charged with gunning down Devante Norwood last month outside at a West Englewood gas station on the South Side.
Tavaris Dean, 21, was jailed on a $1 million bond Wednesday for the Oct. 13 shooting of the 22-year-old Norwood, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County sheriff’s office.
About 10 p.m., Norwood was in the lot of the station in the 7000 block of South Ashland when someone walked up, shot him twice in the head and then took off in a black SUV, authorities said at the time.
Devante Norwood | Facebook
Norwood, of the 6800 block of South Bishop, was pronounced at the scene at 10:22 p.m.
Dean, of the 1300 block of South Karlov, was charged with first-degree murder and obstructing justice by destroying evidence, police said. His next court date is set for Dec. 5.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Chicago Police investigate in the 4200 block of South Racine, where a man was gunned down while on his way to work Thursday morning. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Elijah Murphy, a father of four who was being driven to work by his pregnant daughter Thursday morning, was shot to death in the Back of The Yards neighborhood on the South Side.
Murphy, known as “Fat Head,” was getting out of a vehicle in the 4200 block of South Racine about 4:45 a.m. when someone opened fire from a passing dark SUV, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the body and head, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:12 a.m., authorities said. He lived in the 5700 block of South Bishop. Read more
A man who was shot to death early Monday in the Southwest Side Brighton Park neighborhood has been identified as Victor Fernando Garcia.
Officers responding at 3:40 a.m. to a call of a person shot found the 26-year-old lying on the sidewalk in the 2500 block of West 47th Street, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Garcia had suffered gunshot wounds to the left shoulder and right leg, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:32 a.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 4800 block of South Winchester.
A woman who died after being stabbed Tuesday morning in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the Far South Side has been identified as 49-year-old Renee M. Davis of southwest suburban Joliet.
Officers responded to the 1300 block of West 108th Place at 6:11 a.m. and found a woman with a small puncture wound to the shoulder, according to Chicago Police, who said she was highly intoxicated.
Davis taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she was pronounced dead at 7:19 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. She lived in the 1500 block of Plainfield Road in Joliet.
An autopsy Wednesday found she died of a sharp force injury to the chest, and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office
Police said witnesses at the scene were not cooperating with the investigation by Area South detectives, and no one was in custody as of late Wednesday afternoon.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire
What is Homicide Watch Chicago?
Homicide Watch Chicago is dedicated to the proposition that murder is never a run-of-the-mill story. Attention must be paid to each one, not merely a select and particularly tragic few. We understand the reality of the public’s demand for news - that some stories get more attention than others. But all murders represent a degree of human suffering - direct and indirect - that cannot be ignored. Read more…
