WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 19 more murders in Chicago push the year's homicide total to more than 550

Jeff Mayes — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 16:00:32 -0500

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 19 people were killed in Chicago violence last week, pushing the year's homicide total to over the 550 mark, a number that could go up when pending autopsy results are complete.

One of those undetermined cases involved a severed head and other body parts that were found inside a garbage bag floating in the McKinley Park lagoon on Friday morning. The human remains were found about at the park at 2210 W. Pershing, according to Chicago Police.

A Chicago Park District worker found the bag during a routine clean-up and discovered the man’s head and other body parts inside. Authorities said the victim appeared to be a black male, but he had not been identified as of Wednesday, and autopsy results were pending, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

As of Tuesday, there were 560 homicides in Chicago this year, according to an unofficial count kept by the Chicago Sun-Times Wire. Last year, police reported a total of 468 murders for the entire year.

The week's final homicide was a 54-year-old man from the western suburbs who died Sunday evening after being shot in the head Saturday night near Millennium Park in the Loop. Peter Fabbri of Berwyn was pronounced dead at 5:53 p.m. Sunday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the medical examiner’s office.
He had been walking with two people around 7:35 p.m. Saturday along Michigan Avenue when he got into an argument with another man at the northeast corner of Michigan and Monroe, according to police. They started fighting, and the other person pulled a gun and shot him in the head.

The shooter took off on a bicycle but was arrested nearby, according to police. Reputed gang member Paul Pagan, 32, was charged with murder and is being held without bond in the Cook County Jail.
The death of a 20-year-old man found shot to death in a car Sunday morning in the Ashburn neighborhood is being ruled a homicide, at least according to autopsy results. Omar Rangel was found unresponsive with gunshot wounds to the head and chest in a parked car in the 8200 block of South Scottsdale at 6:10 a.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
Rangel was pronounced dead at the scene, and an autopsy found he died of multiple gunshot wounds, and ruled his death a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office. However, police said the death was being investigated as a suicide because Rangel had a gun in his hand and spent shell casings were found in the vehicle.
A 28-year-old man was fatally shot early Sunday in the Calumet Heights neighborhood. Antonio Porterfield was shot in the neck about 4:30 a.m. in the 9200 block of South Colfax, according to authorities. He was taken to Trinity Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Detectives questioned a person of interest after the shooting, but that person was released without charges.
A 22-year-old man was shot to death Saturday evening in Englewood. Nathan V. Watson was standing outside looking at a vehicle in the 1500 block of West 56th Street about 7:25 p.m. when shots rang out and he was struck multiple times, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Watson was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A 37-year-old man was found shot to death early Saturday in East Garfield Park. Jewneus Clifford Wilson was found about 2:35 a.m. by officers responding tp a call of a person down in the 2600 block of West Wilcox Street, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Clifford had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A man was killed and a woman wounded in a shooting in the Gage Park neighborhood early Saturday. The two were outside in the 2200 block of West 50th Street about 2:10 a.m. when a vehicle pulled up, and a man got out and shot them, according to police. Jose Vizcarra, 20, was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. The woman, 24, was shot in the foot and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in fair condition.
One man was killed and another wounded in an Englewood neighborhood shooting Friday night. The men were in the 5600 block of South Racine about 8:09 p.m. when another male walked up and shot them, police said. Both were taken to Stroger Hospital, where Izael McKenzie, 19, was pronounced dead with multiple gunshot wounds at 8:44 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. A 20-year-old man was listed in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the back.
A 21-year-old man was gunned down in the Humboldt Park neighborhood Friday evening. Joaquin Gonzalez was shot in the chest about 5:30 p.m. and pronounced dead at the scene in the 2600 block of West Haddon, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Police have not released the circumstances of the shooting, but an autopsy Saturday ruled his death a homicide.
A 56-year-old man was shot to death in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood Friday evening. About 5:25 p.m., Carl Jackson was chased into a hallway in an apartment building in the 1000 block of West 77th Street, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Once inside, the male who chased him shot Jackson several times. Jackson, who lived on the same block, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A man was killed and another wounded in a Fuller Park neighborhood shooting Friday afternoon. They were outside about 1:45 p.m. in the 4200 block of South Princeton when someone in a passing vehicle opened fire, according to police.
Jeremiah Curtis, 25, was shot in the buttocks and the other man, 39, in the face. They were taken to Stroger Hospital, where Curtis was pronounced dead at 3:13 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. The older man was in fair condition, police said.
A 33-year-old man previously acquitted of the murder of a postal worker died Thursday, about a month after he was shot in the West Town neighborhood. About 9:30 p.m. Aug. 27, Marvin Keyes was walking out of a home in the 2000 block of West Maypole when a car pulled up, and a gunman got out and shot him in the head, legs and arm, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Keyes was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:07 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.
Keyes was acquitted in April 2009 of the December 2006 killing of 44-year-old Suzette Coleman, a postal worker whom prosecutors said was caught in gang crossfire near her home in the 1300 block of South Millard. No arrests have been made in Keyes’ slaying, police said Saturday.
A man died six days after he was shot in the Englewood neighborhood, authorities said. Lee Stemley, 26, was standing on the sidewalk with another man at 5:42 p.m. Sept. 16 in the 5900 block of South Union when the other man heard gunshots and dropped to the ground, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. When he got up, he saw Stemley was shot.
Stemley was taken to Stroger Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said. He was pronounced dead there at 6:18 p.m. Thursday. No one was in custody, police said.
Anthony Thorpe was killed and another man seriously wounded in a shooting Thursday morning in the Englewood neighborhood that may have occurred during a robbery. The shooting happened at 4:57 a.m. in the 5500 block of South Perry, according to police. Thorpe, 48, was shot in the mouth, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Another man, 35, was shot in the shoulder and back, and was taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition, police said.
A man was killed in a shooting Wednesday afternoon in the Washington Park neighborhood. Eric Banks, 25, was on the sidewalk about 1:51 p.m. in the 5700 block of South Wabash when someone got out of a vehicle and fired at him, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Banks, who lived on the same block, was shot multiple times in the back and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Two men shooting at each other were both killed early Wednesday in the West Pullman neighborhood. Miguel Williams, 34, was sitting in a vehicle in the 12300 block of South Halsted at 12:41 a.m. when he got into a shootout with a 28-year-old man standing in the street, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Williams was found with a gunshot wound to the chest in the 700 block of East 111th Street and pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. The younger man, Donald Carter Brunson of Elk Grove Village, was shot multiple times and also pronounced dead at the scene.
A man was shot to death early Wednesday in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Bruce E. Smith, 51, was arguing with another man on the block where he lived in the 5100 block of South Honore at 12:35 a.m. when the other man pulled a gun and opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner's office. Officers found Smith lying in the street, suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. Smith was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead 30 minutes later.
On Thursday, Lamar Chambers, 25, was charged with first-degree murder charges for the Wednesday killing, according to police. He was ordered held on a $1 million bond.
A 29-year-old man was shot to death early Tuesday on the Near West Side. Eddie Huff was in a vehicle at 2:55 a.m. stopped at a stop light in the 200 block of South Western. That's when another male walked up and fired shots into the vehicle, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Huff was shot in the abdomen and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A man was killed and another man wounded in a shooting Monday morning in the Riverdale neighborhood. The men were in an argument with another person about 11:40 a.m. in the 13100 block of South Langley, when that person pulled out a handgun and opened fire, according to police.
The older man, identified as 26-year-old Maurice McKnight, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and side, and was pronounced dead at the scene. The younger man, 20, was shot in the upper chest and left arm, and took himself to 131st and St. Lawrence, from where he called police. He was then taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition was stabilized.

The other case that could be a possible homicide was that of a northwest suburban man was found dead in a burning vehicle Friday night in Pilsen.

Fire crews responded at 7:48 p.m. to the fire near 21st Street and Jefferson, according to police and fire officials. The body was found in the back seat of the SUV once the fire was extinguished.

He has been identified as a 43-year-old Barrington Hills man, according to the medical examiner’s office. An autopsy did not rule on cause and manner of death, with results pending further studies.

$1 million bond for 25-year-old man charged with fatal shooting if Bruce Smith outside his Back of the Yards home

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 16:15:28 -0500

Lamar Chambers | Chicago Police

A Far South Side man was charged with shooting 51-year-old Bruce E. Smith to death last week in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.

Lamar Chambers, 25, faces first-degree murder charges for the Wednesday killing, according to Chicago Police.

About 12:35 a.m., the pair got into an argument in the street outside Smith’s home in the 5100 block of South Honore and Chambers shot the older man in the chest, authorities allege.

Bruce E. Smith | Facebook

Smith was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:55 a.m., the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Chambers, of the 11000 block of South Green, was ordered held on a $1 million bond at Friday, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office. He is due in court again Oct. 12.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Bruce Smith fatally shot during argument on block where he lived in Back of the Yards

Jeff Mayes — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 10:28:58 -0500

An argument in a Back of the Yards street early Wednesday led to the death of Bruce E. Smith, who was shot on the block where he lived.

Smith, 51, was arguing with another man in the 5100 block of South Honore at 12:35 a.m. when that man pulled out a gun and shot him, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Officers found Smith lying in the street, suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest, authorities said.

Smith, who lived on the same block, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:55 a.m., authorities said.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Bruce E. Smith | Homicide Watch Chicago

WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 19 more murders in Chicago push the year's homicide total to more than 550

$1 million bond for 25-year-old man charged with fatal shooting if Bruce Smith outside his Back of the Yards home

Bruce Smith fatally shot during argument on block where he lived in Back of the Yards