Brandon Peterson | Homicide Watch Chicago

Mother: 'When I went to the morgue ... it sunk in what happened'

Emily Brosious — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 17:44:17 -0500

BY JESSICA KOSCIELNIAK AND EMILY BROSIOUS
Homicide Watch Chicago

Brandon Peterson "loved to dance" with his friends, family said.

Brandon, 17, was with those friends when he was shot in the head and leg while standing in a group in the 3100 block of West Polk Street in East Garfield Park about 12:05 a.m. Sunday, authorities said.

“I heard the gunshots and my daughter went out,” Brandon's mother, Alicia Jefferson said. “She came in saying, ‘It’s my brother! It’s my brother!’”

Jefferson said she ran outside and saw her son’s lifeless body on the ground.
Brandon died a short time later at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

“I wouldn’t have thought this would happen in a million years, because he wasn’t a bad kid. He wasn’t a bad kid at all,” Jefferson said. “When I went to the morgue ... to identify his body, it sunk in what happened.”

Brandon had been at a party near his home in the 3000 block of West Polk Street before being shot, said his brother, Lamont Peterson.

“He and his crew, they loved to dance,” Lamont Peterson said. “That’s all they would do.”

In addition to dancing, Brandon loved sports, his mother said.

“He played everything -- tag football, regular football, race running, track baseball, football, basketball, soccer too,” she said.

Lamont Peterson said he will miss his brother’s smile and sharing bedroom.

“We had fun just doing what brothers do best,” Lamont Peterson said. “Loving each other, taking care of each other, having fun together,”

As a teenager, Brandon had gotten into trouble and was facing a gun possession charge, Lamont Peterson said. His mother said he bought the gun to protect himself.

“He ain’t never killed nobody, he ain’t never shot nobody. He ain’t never done nothing wrong for that man to do that,” Lamont Peterson said. “I never thought I would lose him because he wasn’t in the streets like a typical gang banger.”

Lamont Peterson said his brother had been trying to stay out of trouble since the gun possession charge.

“You can’t blame him for being a kid," Lamont Peterson said. "Kids like to have fun. Until they get older, then they take things seriously. But they didn’t give my brother no time to get older. That man could have been something.”

Jefferson said her son was not a gang member, but his friends called their group "Shorty Mob." She thinks her son's death was related to his social group.

“Other boys were just jealous because he would fight,” Jefferson said.

“See now, they’ll rather shoot you than fight you. Nowadays, they ain’t fight -- they shoot.”

Family members said they had an idea of who the shooter was but nobody has yet been charged for the murder. Area North detectives are investigating.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Eight killed throughout Chicago

Michael Lansu — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 08:47:23 -0500

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Five men and three women were murdered throughout Chicago last week.

At least three of the deaths were classified as domestic related, police said.

The most recent killing happened when 56-year-old Louis Winn was stabbed during a domestic dispute at his home in the 10000 block of South Morgan Street about 9:10 p.m. Saturday, authorities said. He died less than an hour later at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

On Saturday, 17-year-old Brandon Peterson was shot in the head and leg while standing with a group of people in the 3100 block of West Polk Street in the East Garfield Park neighborhood about 12:05 a.m., authorities said.

Peterson, of the 3000 block of West Polk Street, died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County a short time later, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

On Friday, 27-year-old Dewey Knox was shot during during a drive-by in the 1300 block of South Central Park Avenue about 11:55 p.m., authorities said.

Knox, of the 1400 block of South Troy Street, was shot in the back and died at Mount Sinai Hospital early Saturday, according to the medical examiner’s office.

On Thursday, 22-year-old Damian Williams was shot in the 5700 bock of West Augusta Boulevard in the Austin community about 8:55 p.m., authorities said. A 23-year-old man was also critically wounded.

Williams, of the 5900 block of West Augusta Boulevard, was shot multiple times in the chest and died at Mount Sinai Hospital less than an hour later, authorities said.

On Tuesday, 26-year-old Brett Ewing was shot while driving in the 200 block of West 72nd Street in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood about 3 p.m., authorities said. A 4-year-old boy was also wounded.

Ewing, of the 6800 block of South Perry Avenue, was shot four times and died at Stroger Hospital at 6:37 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said.

On Monday, 21-year-old Paris Brown was shot while sitting in a vehicle in the 7300 block of South Perry Avenue in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood about 10:55 p.m., authorities said. A man was also wounded in the shooting.

Brown, who lived on the block, was shot multiple times died at Stroger Hospital less than an hour later, authorities said.

The killings started when LaQuisha Hickman, 37, and Nykole Loving, 23, were fatally shot during a domestic dispute in the 3500 block of West 79th Place in the Ashburn community about 8:55 a.m. Monday, authorities said. An 18-year-old man was also wounded.

Hickman had filed a domestic battery report with Chicago Police officers against her longtime boyfriend Edward Prince following a quarrel the night before -- apparently over her ending their relationship, officials say. Prince, 36, left the house before police arrived, but returned the next morning and went on a shooting spree, authorities say.

Prince then turned the gun on himself and was dead on the scene.

Overall, the medical examiner’s office has ruled at least 172 Chicago deaths in 2014 a homicide — including seven people killed by police.

Additionally, the state’s attorney’s office filed first-degree murder charges against a speeding motorist who killed an off-duty police officer while trying to flee police even though the autopsy ruled the death an accident.

Chicago Police, which counts murders different, have ruled some of those homicides as involuntary manslaughter, justified self-defense or accidents.

Brandon Peterson fatally shot in East Garfield Park area

Michael Lansu — Sun, 15 Jun 2014 23:06:38 -0500

Brandon Peterson was fatally shot early Sunday in the East Garfield Park neighborhood.

Peterson, 17, was standing with a group of people in the 3100 block of West Polk Street when he was shot in the head and lower left leg about 12:05 a.m., authorities said.

Peterson, of the 3000 block of West Polk Street, died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County at 12:26 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire