Aaren Nicole O'Connor | Homicide Watch Chicago

Aaren O'Connor's grieving father hopes her death serves as wake-up call about senseless violence

Jeff Mayes — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 10:07:38 -0600

Aaren O'Connor, 25, had recently left her home in San Diego to start a new life in Chicago with a job she enjoyed and a boyfriend she loved. | Photo Provided

By BRITTANY REYES
Homicide Watch Chicago

Aaren O’Connor wasn’t mixed up with the wrong crowd. She didn’t walk down an alley late at night, look at someone the wrong way or give anyone the wrong impression.

She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and, as she sat in her car in front of her Pilsen apartment, a stray bullet struck her in the back of the head–changing her loved ones’ lives forever.

O’Connor was a San Diego native with big dreams, a compassionate spirit, a sincere desire to travel and a wish to immerse herself in everything the present had to offer.

She cared deeply about family and friends, had a long love affair with anime, and was admired for her ability to connect to those around her with a warm smile and friendly personality.

The 25-year-old moved to Chicago about two years ago to start a job at TOMY International in Oak Brook, and to be closer to her boyfriend, Carlos Sorto, whom she met while studying in Japan as a University of San Diego undergraduate.

Before moving to Chicago two years ago, O'Connor and boyfriend, Carlos Sorto, found a way to make their long distance relationship work. Sorto was in California to watch O'Connor graduate from the University of San Diego in 2012. | Photo Provided

Her father, David O’Connor, was sitting in his study in California when his youngest daughter, Kasey, rushed in and told him something was wrong.

The 17-year-old said she was on the phone with her sister when all of a sudden the line went dead. David O'Connor immediately called his daughter, but as soon as she answered, he knew his little girl was in trouble.

She kept repeating, “My head hurts. My head hurts,” and what he feared was his daughter suffering a stroke ended up being something worse.

After she was found in her car and taken to a hospital in critical condition, David O'Connor received a call from his daughter's roommate informing him she'd been shot. He asked where the bullet hit her and when he heard it had struck her head, he “pretty much lost it.”

Aaren O’Connor was taken to Stroger Hospital on Feb. 5, was declared brain dead, and died two days later.

Aaren's father, David O'Connor, tried to convince his daughter not to move to Chicago, fearing the city was too dangerous. David always tried to protect his little girl and is proud of who she became. | Photo Provided

And just like that, two parents lost their first-born; two siblings lost their big sister, and a man lost the love of his life.

“She was perfect to me and we had a lot of plans and hopes,” Sorto said. “We used to spend every moment we could together and would talk on the phone for hours even if I had to wake up at 4 a.m. for work ... but I have no regrets about that.”

Since her death, Sorto has tried to keep busy working with the Cook County Crime Stoppers and Chicago Police to help the investigation. He said his life has been completely transformed.

During the five years of their relationship, his job was to make Aaren happy, but now, he feels like his job is gone and he hopes others “learn to cherish the people in their lives more.”

The emotional pain is something Sorto still carries, but he says the support he’s received from loved ones–especially O’Connor’s family–has done much to lessen the blow.

“I always loved hanging out with them and it was important to Aaren that I was close to them so it was important to me,” Sorto said. “This experience has made us closer and I feel like after all of this, I’m still part of the family.”

Prior to the move east, David O'Connor had tried many times to get his daughter to reconsider. While the story is tragic, it’s all too common, he said. And that’s why he protested against the move to the Windy City.

“She was an innocent victim sitting in her car talking to her little sister,” David O'Connor said. “She wasn’t doing anything. She wasn’t bothering anyone and this happened to her because of the recklessness of gang members and their use of guns on Chicago streets.”

As a former law enforcement officer who worked at a port of entry along the San Diego border for 21 years, David O'Connor struggles to deal with it, believing if Aaren had not been thousands of miles from home, he might have been able to save her.

“I had a drug dog, made arrests, captured people, put them in jail, and had a gun every day of my life down there,” he said. “It hit home even more that I couldn’t be there. If I was there, maybe I could’ve prevented this. Maybe I could’ve protected her.”

So far, no arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, but loved ones are hopeful that police will find the killer.

According to her father, the detective assigned to the case has been working around the clock, and has only taken one day off work since the murder.

More than 300 people attend O'Connor's funeral service in San Diego on Feb. 15. | Photo Provided

Funeral services were held in San Diego Feb. 15 and more than 300 people came to say their final good-byes and celebrate her life. A memorial service took place in Chicago for co-workers and friends.

The family is grateful for the outpouring of support from the people of TOMY, who helped start a memorial fund in Aaren's memory.

While donations were primarily collected to cover funeral and memorial expenses, the organizers also aim to fund a scholarship program for at-risk Chicago youth to advance their education and give them a chance to encounter new cultures and study abroad, an experience Aaren held close to her heart.

According to the online donation page created by her colleague, Willie Wilkov, the end goal is to develop an after-school program at a community center in O’Connor’s name, giving children in Chicago the resources and support needed to “choose a non-violent path and open their hearts to others.”

As of Wednesday, the Arren O'Connor Memorial Fund has collected more than $40,000.

O'Connor was described as "a rockstar" of her company, TOMY International in Oak Brook, and was well liked by her co-workers for her positive spirit and dedication. | Photo Provided

David O'Connor hopes that by connecting youth to opportunities to get off the street and find alternatives to gang life, other families may avoid the pain caused by the reckless pulling of a trigger.

The heartbroken father also urges Chicagoans to call for more action from government officials, specifically Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Bruce Rauner.

“They’re not bringing people together to help these kids and combat the problem, and that’s what I’m angry about,” David O'Connor said. “A solution needs to come from the community and this isn’t going to get solved unless someone steps forward and becomes a leader.”

While he acknowledged that gun violence has been a longstanding issue in the city, he believes his daughter's death can be the wake-up call people need to realize enough is enough and their children deserve better.

“Aaren is a big loss to us,” David O'Connor said. “She is our family, she is our daughter, and our first-born, but I think that loss extends even beyond her friends and family to people who didn’t even know her because we really lost a beautiful human being.

“She was humble about her accomplishments and wanted to be friends with everyone, and that’s what I want people to understand. I want people to look at this story and say that they lost somebody special because they have. Aaren was just that kind of person.”

$1,000 reward offered for information into fatal shooting of Aaren O'Connor

Jeff Mayes — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 15:14:34 -0600

Aaren O'Connor | Facebook

By DANIEL BROWN, JORDAN OWEN and JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Cook County Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 cash reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person responsible for the shooting death of Aaren O'Connor.

O'Connor died two days after she was struck by a stray bullet while talking to her father on the phone in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood on the South Side.

About 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5, Aaren O’Connor was sitting in her 2009 gray Honda Civic in the 2000 block of West 21st Place and talking to her father on her cellphone when she was struck by gunfire, according to Chicago Police.

O’Connor, who lived on the same block, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died two days later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Police said O’Connor was not the intended target of the shooting, which started with a fight on the block where she was killed.

Crime Stoppers is asking anyone with information to call (800) 535-STOP, police said. Callers can remain anonymous, and will be given a code number.

O'Connor worked at the Tomy toy company in Oak Brook, and co-workers helped set up a GoFundMe page. The “Aaren O’Connor Memorial Fund” account on the GoFundMe website has raised more than $35,000 in a week for the San Diego native who moved to Chicago about a year-and-a-half ago.

Donations will initially be used to help her family with funeral and memorial service expenses, but the rest of the money will be used to fund a scholarship in O’Connor’s memory to help at-risk youth, according to the website.

Memorial scholarship created for Aaren O'Connor, who died after being struck by stray bullet in Heart of Chicago

Jeff Mayes — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 10:53:37 -0600

By JORDAN OWEN and JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Aaren O'Connor was in her car, talking on the phone to her father in California, when she was struck by a stray bullet Friday night in the South Side Heart of Chicago neighborhood. Two days later she was dead.

About 7:30 p.m. Friday, the 25-year-old California native was sitting in her 2009 gray Honda Civic in the 2000 block of West 21st Place after work, talking to her father on her cellphone, according to Chicago Police.

That's when a fight broke out down the block and shots were fired. One of the bullets went through the car window and struck her in the head.

Her roommate found O'Connor unresponsive in her car and she was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced brain dead at 4:48 p.m. Sunday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Aaren O'Connor | Facebook

Police said O'Connor, who lived on the same block, was not the intended target of the shooting. Area Central detectives are looking for available video footage or information to identify a suspect.

The San Diego native, who moved to Chicago about a year ago to start a new job, worked as a brand manager for the Tomy toy company based in Oak Brook. Co-workers helped set up a GoFundMe page. The Aaren O'Connor Memorial Fund had raised more than $28,000 in two days, with funds to be used for funeral expenses, and to establish after-school programs and a scholarship in her name for at-risk youth.

"On Friday February 5, 2016, our friend and colleague was an innocent victim of the rising gun violence in Chicago," according to the website.

"Aaren was a beautiful 25-year-old woman who was intelligent, compassionate, caring and hardworking with a deep love for her friends and family. She had a great sense of humor, love for adventure and a take charge personality. By simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time the world lost an amazing person and all of her potential.

"We want to make sure that something positive can come from this senseless tragedy. While trying to solve the gun violence epidemic in Chicago seems like an impossible task, we need to start somewhere. We believe we can teach people to see the world from the perspective of others. We hope we can teach people that violence isn't the answer and provide them with resources to pursue a different path. We think we can teach people how to come together and become a stronger, more unified community," according to the site.

"Over time, donations will fund a scholarship program in Aaren’s memory that will serve to bring hope and healing to the youth of Chicago. One initial idea is to fund support for at-risk Chicago youth who want to advance their education by participating in a study abroad program (Aaren loved to travel and met her boyfriend Carlos during her time abroad).

"Our long-term goal is to develop an after school program at a community center in Aaren’s name where Chicago’s youth can come together to receive the caring and resources they need to choose a non-violent path and open their hearts to others."

WEEK IN REVIEW: 17 killed in Chicago violence, including six members of one family in Gage Park

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 16:00:22 -0600

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 17 people were killed in violence in Chicago in the last week, including one of the most shocking crimes in the city in recent memory in which six members of the same family, including two young boys, were found slain in a home that one responding police officer called a "bloody mess."

Chicago Police said there were no signs that anyone had ransacked a house where six people, three generations of one Mexican immigrant family, had been slain. The victims—two men, two women and two boys ages 10 and 13,—were found dead Thursday afternoon after police checked on the well-being of a man who didn’t show up to work for two days.

Family members and the medical examiner’s office identified the victims as: 62-year-old Noe Martinez Sr. and his wife, 58-year-old Rosaura Martinez; their adult children, 38-year-old Noe Martinez Jr. and 32-year-old Maria Herminia Martinez; and Herminia’s sons, 10-year-old Alexis Cruz and 13-year-old Leonardo Cruz.

Autopsies found the boys suffered “sharp force” injuries, which a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office defined as either a stabbing or cutting wound, or both. Herminia Martinez died of gunshot wounds. Noe Martinez Sr. died of “sharp force” wounds. And his wife and his son, Noe Jr., died of “multiple sharp and blunt force injuries,” autopsies showed.

While a police source said the family was targeted, no motive for the crime has been given, and no suspects were in custody four days later.

The last homicide of the week left one man dead and another wounded in a Humboldt Park neighborhood shooting Sunday afternoon. About 12:45 p.m., 21-year-old Dwight Hughes Jr. was outside in the 3900 block of West Augusta when three people walked out of an alley and one of them started shooting, according to police and the medical examiner's office.

Hughes, of the 3400 block of West Foster, was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:06 a.m. A 20-year-old man was also shot in the head, right arm and torso at the same location, police said. His condition was stabilized.

The man was shot in the neck and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. His name had not been released as of late Monday afternoon. A 20-year-old man was also shot in the head, arm and torso at the same location, police said. He took himself to Norwegian American Hospital and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

A 21-year-old man was fatally shot through the window of a home in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood late Friday.

Matthew W. Williams was shot in the back in a basement apartment in the 7100 block of South Calumet about 11:25 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Williams, of the 1000 block of East 46th Street, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:08 a.m. Saturday.

Tony Jones was shot and killed Thursday evening in the Austin neighborhood. The 18-year-old was walking in the 5900 block of West LeMoyne Street about 7:40 p.m. when he heard gunfire and felt pain, according to police.

He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the abdomen and back, and was able to make it to the 1400 block of North Mayfield Avenue, where authorities were notified, police said. He was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he died at 11:13 p.m. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the back.

25-year-old Aaren O'Connor died Sunday, two days after she was struck by a stray bullet in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood on the South Side. About 7:30 p.m. Friday, she was sitting in her car in the 2000 block of West 21st Place, where she lived, and talking to her father on her cellphone when she was struck by gunfire, according to police.

O’Connor, who lived on the same block, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced brain dead at 4:48 p.m. Sunday, according to the medical examiner’s office. Police said O’Connor was not the intended target of the shooting, which started with a fight on the block where she was killed.

Two men were shot, one fatally, Thursday evening in Humboldt Park. John Mackey, 18, and a 20-year-old man were inside a restaurant in the 3700 block of West Division just before 5:30 p.m. when someone came in and opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Mackey was shot in the head, while the older man suffered a gunshot wound to the arm, authorities said. They were both taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where Mackey, of the 2600 block of West Potomac Avenue, died. The older man’s condition was stabilized.

Maria Ramos was stabbed to death Thursday morning in a laundromat where she worked in the Pilsen neighborhood. Police believe the incident was a domestic-related attack.

The 34-year-old was stabbed in the head in the Spin Cycle in the 1700 block of West Cermak at 8:23 a.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sixteen-year-old Martel Anderson was fatally shot Wednesday morning on his way to school in Austin. The teen was walking on the sidewalk in the 5000 block of West Ferdinand about 8:10 a.m. when two males walked up and one pulled out a handgun and opened fire, according to police.

The boy was shot in the face, and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

A 21-year-old man was killed Tuesday night in a South Chicago neighborhood drive-by shooting. Hector Del Rio was standing with another person on the sidewalk in the 8100 block of South Houston about 10:30 p.m. when a minivan drove past and someone inside fired shots, according to police and the medical examiner's office.

Del Rio suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the buttocks and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died at 11:42 p.m. He lived in the block where the shooting happened.

Matabias Biles was stabbed to death Tuesday evening during a domestic incident in the Homan Square neighborhood.

The 34-year-old was stabbed in the face and chest about 7:40 p.m. in the 3400 block of West Flournoy, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Biles, who lived on the same block, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:57 p.m. Police said the stabbing was domestic-related, but no one was in custody.

A 31-year-old man was shot to death Monday morning in the South Side Washington Heights neighborhood after answering his front door.

Paul C. Sappington answered the door of his home in the 9000 block of South May about 10:15 a.m. and was shot by two male suspects, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 42-year-old west suburban man was shot to death early Monday in Austin. The shooting happened about 12:30 a.m. in the 500 block of South Cicero, police said.

Edward Flowers was shot in the chest and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:45 a.m. He lived in Cicero.