WEEK IN REVIEW: 14 more people killed as city tops 1,000 shootings, 180 homicides in less than 4 months

Jeff Mayes — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 13:19:07 -0500

By JEFF MAYES
Homicide Watch Chicago

Last year saw the most homicides in the city in more than two decades, and this year is on pace to equal or beat that number. It is not even the end of April and there have been more than 1,000 shootings in the city of Chicago this year, and more than 180 have been homicide victims.

At least 14 people were killed in Chicago last week, and that brought the total number of homicides to 183 as of April 25. In 2016, the city recorded its 183rd homicide on April 26.

On the same day, two people were shot, bringing the city’s gun violence toll to 1,000 victims this year, according to Chicago Sun-Times data. The milestone came on the 115th day of 2017, meaning the city is averaging nearly nine people shot per day. The bloodiest day was New Year’s Day, when 27 people were shot.

Last week's homicide victims ranged in age from 18 to 71, and died all across the city, though the vast majority of the year's crimes and hiomicides have occurred on the South and West sides.

The latest victim was a man killed in a shooting Sunday evening in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the West Side. Isaiah Erasmo Sanchez, 19, was a passenger in a vehicle about 7:15 p.m. in the 800 block of North Sacramento when someone fired shots from another vehicle, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Sanchez suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was taken to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 8:33 p.m. He lived in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

A 22-year-old man was shot to death just minutes earlier in the South Side Englewood neighborhood. Santwon D. Mobley was getting out of a vehicle about 7 p.m. in the 200 block of West 61st Place when someone shot him in the hip and head from an approaching white SUV, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Mobley, who lived in the same neighborhood, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead an hour later.
A south suburban man was killed and another man wounded in a shooting Sunday afternoon in the Roseland neighborhood on the Far South Side. The men were in a vehicle about 1:05 p.m. at 97th and Yale when someone approached and fired shots, according to police. Marcel Javon Spivey Jr., 21, was shot in the head and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Spivey lived in south suburban Dolton. A 24-year-old man was shot in the groin and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition was stabilized.
Another man was fatally shot Sunday afternoon in the South Side Washington Park neighborhood. Ryan D. Thornton, 30, was sitting in a vehicle at 12:33 p.m. in the 400 block of East Garfield when another vehicle pulled alongside and someone inside fired shots, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Thornton was shot in the cheek, hip and left side of his body, and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2 p.m. He lived in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side.
A 26-year-old man was fatally shot Saturday evening in the South Shore neighborhood. Just after 6:30 p.m., a male suspect walked up to Fredrick Stewart in the 2800 block of East 76th Street and fired shots, striking him in the left eye and lower back before running away, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Stewart was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead nearly three hours later.
A man was shot to death late Friday in the West Englewood neighborhood. Officers responding to a shooting about 10:30 p.m. in the 5900 block of South Paulina found 39-year-old Hassan R. Sutton with multiple gunshot wounds in the driver’s seat of a parked SUV, according to police and the medical examiner's office. Sutton, who lived in the same neighborhood, was pronounced dead at the scene. Minutes later, a man was shot in the leg about a block away, but police said the incidents were being investigated separately.
One man was killed and another wounded in a shooting earlier Friday night in the Parkway Gardens neighborhood on the South Side. The shooting happened at 7:06 p.m. inside a building in the 6500 block of South King Drive, according to police. Armani Horton, 18, was shot in the upper back, and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died at 7:54 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner's office. He lived in the South Side Englewood neighborhood. A 25-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to a knee and was also taken to Northwestern, in good condition.
A man was killed and another wounded in a shooting Wednesday evening on the Dan Ryan Expressway's Chinatown feeder ramp on the South Side. The shooting happened at 5:12 p.m. in the westbound lanes of I-90/94, according to Illinois State Police. The men were shot when another man got out of his vehicle on the ramp and fired into their vehicle, ISP said. Jeremy Scullark, 28, was dead at the scene, and the other man was taken to a hospital with injuries that weren’t life-threatening.
While pursuing the suspect, Chicago Police officers driving north on Shields Avenue with lights and sirens activated crashed into a vehicle that was eastbound on 31st Street, according to police. Two officers were taken to a hospital, where one was listed in serious condition and the other was in good condition. Two people from the eastbound car were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

On Friday, Jeremiah M. Holt, 20, of Chicago was charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, according to ISP.
A woman was shot to death late Tuesday in the Roseland neighborhood on the Far South Side. Officers responded about 11:35 p.m. to a call of a person shot and found 22-year-old Brittany Leflore lying on the sidewalk in the 10700 block of South Indiana, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Leflore had been shot in the abdomen and left ankle, and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she was pronounced dead. She lived in the same neighborhood as the shooting.
A man and woman were shot to death Tuesday morning in the South Side Back of the Yards neighborhood. Marcus Triplett, 25, and Jacquetta Pearson, 22, were sitting in a dark vehicle in the 5100 block of South Halsted at 8:17 a.m. when a white vehicle pulled up and two people got out and fired shots, according to police. Triplett and Pearson were both dead at the scene. The suspects drove away after the shooting.
A man was killed and a woman critically wounded in a South Shore drive-by shooting Monday morning. The 26-year-old woman was driving with Kristopher Reed in the passenger seat about 11:25 a.m. in the 7000 block of South Chappel, when another vehicle drove by and someone inside opened fire, striking both victims multiple times, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Reed, who lived in the same neighborhood, was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition.
Javontay Tolliver was shot to death early Monday near a CTA Red Line station on the South Side, and the following day, a man was charged with his murder. Fredrick Stewart, 33, faces a felony count of first-degree murder, police announced Tuesday night. Stewart is accused of killing the 33-year-old Tolliver during an argument at 2:39 a.m. Monday in the 200 block of West Garfield Boulevard, near the Garfield Red Line station. The two men had been told to leave the station by a CTA employee prior to the shooting. They had walked west on Garfield when police say Stewart pulled out a gun and fired multiple times. Tolliver, of the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, was shot in the head, back and chest, police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 3:53 a.m.
Also Monday, the death of a 71-year-old man, injured when a chair was thrown at him at a West Side nursing home 10 months ago, was ruled a homicide. On June 7, 2016, 31-year-old Nicholas Brown threw a chair at 71-year-old Timothy Everett at a nursing home in the 1500 block of South Albany Avenue, according to police and the medical examiner's office. The incident was caught on surveillance camera.
Everett was originally hospitalized in serous condition, police said. He was later moved to another nursing home in the 9500 block of South Mayfield Avenue in Oak Lawn, where he died at 8 a.m. Tuesday, according to the medical examiner's office. An autopsy Wednesday found he died of complications of blunt force trauma to the head, and his death was ruled a homicide.

Brown, a Bellwood resident, was arrested March 15 and charged with aggravated battery causing greatly bodily harm to a senior citizen, police said. He remains at the Cook County Jail on a $150,000 bond.

Man charged with fatal shooting of Javontay Tolliver, killed during argument near Garfield Red Line station

Jeff Mayes — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 09:48:57 -0500

By ANDY GRIMM
Chicago Sun-TImes

Javontay Tolliver was shot to death early Monday near a CTA Red Line station on the South Side, and the following day, a man was charged with his murder.

Fredrick Stewart | Chicago Police

Fredrick Stewart, 33, faces a felony count of first-degree murder, Chicago Police announced Tuesday night.

Stewart is accused of killing the 34-year-old Tolliver during an argument at 2:39 a.m. Monday in the 200 block of West Garfield Boulevard, near the Garfield Red Line station, authorities said. On Wednesday, he was ordered held without bond.

Tolliver, of the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, was shot three times—in the chest, back and head—and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 3:53 a.m., the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Javontay Tolliver | Facebook

Moments after the shooting, Stewart was arrested by Chicago Police after a brief chase, a few blocks from the Red Line stop.

Surveillance footage showed Stewart and Tolliver arguing near the turnstiles at the station, and Stewart grabbing Tolliver, Cook County prosecutors said in court. Hearing the argument, a CTA employee told the men to leave.

The pair returned to the threshold of the station a few minutes later, when Tolliver bolted away from Stewart, prosecutors said. A CTA employee then heard a gunshot and ducked beneath her kiosk.

Video shows Stewart chasing Tolliver into the street, while pointing a gun at the fleeing man, prosecutors said. Tolliver fell to the ground, and Stewart allegedly shot him as he tried to get up.

A passerby called 911 and stayed with Tolliver until police arrived.

Police re-traced Stewart’s path from the foot chase and located a revolver with a nine-shot capacity, holding six spent casings, one live bullet and two empty slots, prosecutors said.

Stewart’s hands showed traces of gunshot residue in preliminary testing, prosecutors said.

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

His grandmother, who started the page, said Tolliver suffered from "mental instability" and did not have insurance. "He didn't deserve to die over an argument," she wrote. "... please keep my family in your prayers."

Fredrick Stewart | Homicide Watch Chicago

WEEK IN REVIEW: 14 more people killed as city tops 1,000 shootings, 180 homicides in less than 4 months

Man charged with fatal shooting of Javontay Tolliver, killed during argument near Garfield Red Line station