Denzel Burke | Homicide Watch Chicago

Rapper Young Pappy shot to death in Uptown

Michael Lansu — Fri, 29 May 2015 12:45:49 -0500

Shaquon Thomas / Photo from YouTube

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago

Chicago rapper Young Pappy, who had previously been the intended target in at least two shootings that left bystanders dead, was himself fatally shot early Friday in the Uptown neighborhood.

Shaquon Thomas, 19, was in the 4800 block of North Kenmore Avenue when gunfire erupted about 1:35 a.m., authorities said. Witnesses reported seeing a black car that may have been associated with the shooting, according to a statement from Ald. Harry Osterman (48th Ward).

The shooting happened across the street from St. Thomas of Canterbury Catholic church.

Paramedics took Thomas to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was declared dead at 2:04 a.m., authorities said.

Uptown resident Kristin Johnson said it is not unusual to hear gunshots in the neighborhood.

"I heard about 10 gunshots and went to the window to peek out, but I didn't see anything," Johnson said.

Johnson, 34, said she initially used to wonder if the loud noises in the neighborhood were gunshots or fireworks, but she has since become desensitized to them.

"I used to feel more safe [in Uptown] ... but I'm a mom now," Johnson said while holding her young child. "It's different when its just you."

Osterman said he has requested "additional security in our area to curb the possibility of retaliatory actions."

Thomas rapped under the moniker Young Pappy. The up-and-coming musician was not signed to a record label, but his song "Killa" has more than 250,000 views on YouTube. Another song, "Fanteo Freestyle," has nearly 225,000 views.

As word of the rapper's death spread, fans, including Cliff Alexander, a standout basketball player at Curie Metropolitan High School and the University of Kansas, took to social media to express their condolences:

The rapper was born on the North Side and makes music because "it puts him in a positive mood," according to his Facebook page.

Authorities listed Thomas' home address as the 6300 block of North Lakewood Avenue, but a resident at the building said he only occasionally stayed there with his father, who recently moved out.

Thomas' family could not be reached for comment.

"He was always happy, he always had everybody positive around him, always had a smile on his face," according to a friend, who is not being identified because he is a juvenile. "He was just happy all the time, hanging out with his friends. He was always cracking jokes."

According to the rapper's Facebook page, he hoped to use music to support his family and the family of a friend killed in street violence.

"He expressed all his feelings in his music, that's how he expressed himself," according to the friend. "That's how he let everything out basically."

Prior to his death, the rapper posted on his Facebook page: "All he wanted me to do was make it. He campaigned my music the hardest out of anybody I knew. I love bro and I'm gonna do this for him cause this what he wanted."

Thomas himself was no stranger to street violence and run-ins with the law.

In 2013, Thomas was sentenced to one year in prison for felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to court records. He was given credit for time served.

He also has numerous misdemeanor arrests, mostly recently a May 13 disorderly conduct and possession of cannabis charge, according to court records. According to DNAinfo Chicago, that charge came from a record release party that led to a five-hour police standoff and 31 people arrested.

Thomas had twice been the target in shootings that instead killed innocent bystanders William Lewis and Markeyo Carr, according to authorities and DNAinfo Chicago.

Police Tape where Shaquon Thomas was fatally shot.

Osterman confirmed that Thomas "had been a target in other gang-related shootings in Edgewater and Rogers Park."

Lewis, 28, was standing in the 1300 block of West Devon Avenue when a gunman walked up and shot him in the back about 3:20 p.m. July 12, authorities said.

Lewis escaped poverty in Guatemala when he was adopted at age 7. Loving parents raised him in Wisconsin, where he found his two passions: photography and the woman who would become his wife.

He attended art school in Milwaukee and moved to Chicago two years ago. Lewis and his wife moved into an apartment in the 4700 block of North Hermitage Avenue just two weeks before his death, according to a friend.

Prosecutors claim 31-year-old Conservative Vice Lord Eric Vaughn spotted a rival gang member, handed 15-year-old Denzel Burke a gun and Burke and 17-year-old Michael Phillips chased their rival through Rogers Park.

Burke fired 10 times, missing the rival but striking Lewis in the back as he stood at a nearby bus stop, prosecutors said.

On Feb. 5, 2014, a masked gunman fatally shot Carr, 17, and wounded three others in a McDonald’s parking lot in the 6700 block of North Clark Street.

The victims had been in an argument with another group of people shortly before the masked gunman approached, police said.

Jaunita Carr-Clay, Carr’s aunt, said her nephew loved to rap.

“He made little videos at home on his own,” she said. “He was very talented. He rapped about everyday life, reality.”

She said Carr, who attended a nearby high school, had just come from his mother’s house around the corner. “She’d given him a few dollars to get something to eat.”

Nobody has been charged for Carr's death.

A police spokeswoman declined to confirm Thomas' role in the deaths of Lewis and Carr, citing "an open and on-going investigation."

-- Contributing: Matt McCall

-- Network Video Productions

Gang order to shooter: ‘Wet that T-shirt up’

Michael Lansu — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 16:19:58 -0500

Denzel Burke / Photo from Racine County (Wis.) Sheriff's office

BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

When 15-year-old Denzel Burke received an order from an older Conservative Vice Lord to shoot at a rival they spotted on a sidewalk in Rogers Park, he and his teenage pal dutifully got out of the car they were traveling in and chased their prey, Cook County prosecutors alleged Friday.

“Wet that T-shirt up,” Eric Vaughn allegedly told Burke, encouraging him to wound the 19-year-old target before handing Burke a loaded gun on the afternoon of July 12.

Passersby also heard Burke’s friend, Michael Phillips, 17, further embolden Burke as the two chased after the other teen in the 1300 block of West Devon Avenue, Assistant State’s Attorney Jamie Santini said Friday.

“Get his ass,” Phillips allegedly said as Burke fired 10 times, missing the rival but striking photographer Wil Lewis in the back as he stood at a nearby bus stop, Santini said.

After the shooting, Burke allegedly unloaded his weapon on Devon Avenue, and Phillips was heard urging him to flee: “Come on.”

Lewis, who had moved to Rogers Park with his wife two weeks before and was about to start a job as a staff photographer for an online men’s clothing store, died from his wounds less than an hour later at a nearby hospital.

Ald. Joe Moore (49th) witnessed the shooting as did another person who took pictures of Burke and Phillips as they made their escape, authorities said.

The two teens traveled to Racine, Wis. following the arrest of the 31-year-old Vaughn, authorities said.

They were taken into custody there earlier this month and extradited back to Chicago on Wednesday.

Burke and Phillips were both identified in line-ups and admitted their roles in the murder, Santini said.

Vaughn, of the 4400 block of North Claredon Avenue, was ordered held without bond last month.

Judge Donald Panarese Jr. on Friday called Burke “dangerous” and also ordered him held without bond on murder and attempted murder charges.

William Lewis / Submitted photo

Phillips was ordered held in lieu of $1.5 million bail.

Burke was arrested as a juvenile this year for a robbery and a domestic battery involving his mother, Santini said.

Phillips, who goes by the nickname “Tay Black,” admitted guilt in a 2011 assault and a 2012 aggravated battery, according to records.

Burke, of the 800 block of West Grace Street, completed 9th grade at Lake View High School, Assistant Public Defender Ruth McBeth said.

Phillips has completed 10th grade, McBeth said.

UPDATE: Two more held in photographer Wil Lewis' murder

Michael Lansu — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 07:12:47 -0500

William Lewis / Submitted photo

BY MITCH DUDEK
Chicago Sun-Times

To feel closer to him, every day Maria Lewis visits the bus stop where her husband, Wil, was killed by stray gang gunfire last month in Rogers Park.

She sits against a building, beneath a bullet hole in a window frame — the last remnant of the afternoon Wil died, and she tells him what’s been happening since then. He was 28.

On Thursday, she had good news: Detectives phoned to tell her that the person they think pulled the trigger, as well as an accomplice who fled on foot, had been arrested in Racine, Wis., where they were hiding out.

Maria Lewis, 30, shared the details of her life on a memorial website dedicated to raising money to cover funeral costs and a scholarship in Wil’s name.

“I’ve been very busy with all those things related to death of a spouse. For now, I’m staying in Chicago so I can feel closer to Wil,” she said in an entry posted Thursday.

Michael Phillips, 17, and Denzel Burke, 15, were in the custody of the Racine County Sheriff’s Department on Sunday night. They were arrested last week on first-degree murder warrants that had been issued in Cook County. Phillips lives in the Uptown neighborhood, in the 800 block of West Windsor Avenue, about a mile from Burke’s home in the 800 block of West Grace Street in Lake View.

“For me this is very bitter sweet, I am happy but so very sad. I guess it is a baby step toward closure,” Maria wrote on the website.

She also recounts the last few hours of Wil’s life, details she cobbled together through receipts. He bought nine red bins at an office supply shop “to make our ugly shelf more presentable.”

“After that at 2:12 he ate lunch at Jimmy Johns. Which I was surprised at because he does not like JJ; it must have been the best thing he walked past that had food.”

After that, he began to walk home and was passing a bus stop when gunfire rang out.

Maria wrote that she learned that nearby residents and passersby pointed out one of the suspects to police, snapped photos of people fleeing the scene, and rushed to Wil’s side in his final moments.

“I was told there were multiple civilians that rushed to help Wil, so he was not alone. I am thankful for swift justice and lots of evidence but I am most thankful that caring and kind souls didn’t let Wil perish alone on the street.

“Thank you again for your support and prayers. I am glad I don’t have to go through this alone.”

Last week’s arrests came about two weeks after Eric Vaughn, 31, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. He was accused of handing the gun to one of the passengers in his car and ordering him to shoot a rival gang member. He allegedly told the gunman to “wet that T-shirt up” — meaning make the rival gang member bleed.

Eric Vaughn / Photo from Chicago Police

Two passengers got out of the car and fired about 10 shots at the rival. The 19-year-old intended target was not struck, but Wil Lewis was shot in the back.

Vaughn was arrested on foot shortly after the shooting when witnesses identified him to police as the driver of the vehicle. Vaughn, of the 4400 block of North Clarendon Avenue, was ordered held on no bail.

The warrant for Burke carried a bail of $750,000. Phillips’ warrant ordered that the teen be held without bail.

Lewis, who had just moved into a new apartment in Rogers Park with his wife, was about to start a new job as a photographer for Trunk Club, an online men’s clothing store, when he was killed. He had escaped poverty in Guatemala when he was adopted at age 7. He was raised in Wisconsin, attended art school in Milwaukee and moved to Chicago two years ago.