Cassius White | Homicide Watch Chicago

Mentor: 'It’s like he was born on a different path but got swallowed up in the streets'

Michael Lansu — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 14:05:27 -0500

BY KALEY FOWLER AND EMILY BROSIOUS
Homicide Watch Chicago

Cassius White moved to Chicago from New Orleans in 2006 after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina, friends said.

White and a 16-year-old boy were wounded in a drive-by shooting July 7 in the 9600 block of South Sangamon Avenue, authorities said.

White, 19, of the 8200 block of South Dante Avenue, died later that day.

Friends described him as wise beyond his years.

“He didn’t think like kids from our generation,” said friend Arielle Williams, 18. “He had an old soul and he seemed so old, so mature. He was very intellectual.”

White moved to Chicago when he was in fourth grade and bragged to his classmates that his father stayed in New Orleans to help hurricane victims, said friend Tevon Blair, 18.

White was well read, stayed up to date on current events and could easily hold a conversation with older adults, said Lenora Dennis, the mother of one of White’s friends.

Cassius White / Photo from Twitter

“He was an exceptionally bright kid,” said Dennis’ husband, Kenneth Holman. “It’s like he was born on a different path but got swallowed up in the streets.”

White lived with his mother, but often stayed with Dennis and Holman, said Williams. White's mother declined to comment.

“Cassius was very headstrong, and he’d listen to her, but he wasn’t keen on taking her advice,” Williams said. “He told me once he wished he could be the man she wanted him to be and he wished they were closer. He loved his mom.”

Holman and Dennis said they invited White into their home because they wanted to keep him off the streets. They said their house was a safe place for him and his friends to listen to music and play video games without getting in trouble.

Holman, who operates a recording studio out of his home, said he frequently tried to persuade White to pursue rapping, but White never showed much interest.

Friends gather to discuss Cassius White / Photo by Jessica Koscielniak

However, White brought up rapping during their last conversation, when he told Holman he was ready to record his first track.

“I was looking forward to him being under our watch in the studio and off the streets,” Holman said. “He fell in with some guys that were into street life and slowly devolved into that world in the last few months. I got the vibe that he realized he needed to do music because the walls were closing in.”

Friend Lamont Brown, 19, said he and some of White’s older friends tried to keep him out of trouble, but they could tell White was growing increasingly reckless.

Friend Kyndal Buchanan, 18, said White had a tough exterior, but still cared deeply for his friends and always put their needs first. She said he had a great sense of humor and could make anyone laugh.

Brown said that although White was “in the wrong state of mind” in recent months, he still had good intentions and aspired to be successful in life.

Nobody has been charged for the murder. Area South detectives continue to investigate.

WEEK IN REVIEW: 12 dead from Chicago shootings

Michael Lansu — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 09:51:49 -0500

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Twelve people died last week from shootings throughout Chicago.

Three of the shootings happened early last Monday at the end of a bloody Independence Day weekend that saw 13 people killed and 58 others wounded by gunfire.

The last shooting of the week happened when a gunman walked up to 28-year-old William Lewis in the 1300 block of West Devon Avenue and shot him in the head 3:20 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.

Lewis, of the 4700 block of North Hermitage Avenue, died at Presence Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston less than an hour later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

In the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, 27-year-old Adarrius Thompson and his 50-year-old mother were shot during a domestic dispute at their home in the 6200 block of South Rockwell Street, authorities said.

Thompson was shot in the chest and died at the scene. His mother was also shot in the chest and was hospitalized at Mount Sinai Hospital in serious condition, authorities said.

On Friday, 32-year-old Damion Bryant was shot in the head just outside his home in the 5200 block of West Quincy Street in the Austin neighborhood and died at the scene about 8 p.m., authorities said. Three other people were wounded in the shooting but survived.

On Wednesday, Jasmine Curry -- a pregnant 24-year-old mother of five -- was shot while in a minivan traveling south on the Dan Ryan Expressway near 59th Street, family said.

“I just don’t understand young people in Chicago today,” said her father, Pierre Curry. “They don’t give a damn. They ain’t got no heart.”

Jasmine Curry’s death comes slightly less than a year after her brother Pierce L. Curry was fatally shot while riding in a vehicle on the South Side in the early morning hours of Aug. 27, 2013.

On Tuesday, 23-year-old Bruce Wright was shot while riding a bicycle in the 900 block of North Hamlin Avenue about 10:10 p.m., authorities said. Wright, of the 0-100 block of North Hamlin Avenue, was shot in the head and died at the scene.

Wright was previously wounded in the left forearm just six days earlier — on July 2. He told police he heard shots and felt pain in his arm.

On Sept. 2, he was shot in his left wrist during a drive-by shooting, police said.

In the Washington Heights neighborhood, 17-year-old Marcel Pearson and a 15-year-old acquaintance had just left a store and were walking through Robichaux Park in the 9200 block of South Eggleston Avenue when a white van pulled up about 10 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said. A gunman exited and opened fire — hitting Pearson in the chest and back, police said.

Pearson, of the 1400 block of West 114th Place, was dead at the scene by the time emergency personnel arrived, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Friends said Pearson played basketball at Johnson College Prep High School was about to start at Western Illinois University.

On Monday, 19-year-old Jaynisha Scheffer was walking with a group in the 2200 block of West 69th Street when someone rode up on a bicycle and opened fire at 7:05 p.m., authorities said.

Scheffer, of the 7600 block of South Paulina Street, was shot in the back and died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn later that night, authorities said.

In the South Chicago neighborhood, 24-year-old Joey Henderson was shot in the 8400 block of South Buffalo Avenue when he was shot about 2:20 a.m. Monday, authorities said.

Henderson, who lived on the block, was shot in the back, chest, right arm and eye and died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about an hour later, authorities said.

In the Washington Heights neighborhood, 19-year-old Cassius White and a 16-year-old acquaintance were shot in the 9600 block of South Sangamon Avenue about 12:30 a.m. Monday, authorities said.

White, of the 8200 block of South Dante Avenue, was shot in the abdomen area and died later that day at Christ Medical Center, according to the medical examiner’s office. The 16-year-old was also wounded, but survived, police said.

The killings started when 44-year-old Tonya Gunn was leaning against a car and talking to her cousin after a cookout at her grandfather’s house in the 10900 block of South Throop Street when gunshots rang out about 12:30 a.m. Monday, authorities said.

Gunn, who lived on the block, was shot in the side and died less than an hour later at Roseland Community Hospital.

“As far as her being in the wrong place at the wrong time — I can’t say that,” Gunn’s cousin, Annette Scott, said.

Additionally, two people died last week from earlier gunshot wounds.

William Allen, 25, of the 3500 block of South State Street, died last Monday after being shot June 6 near East 80th Street and South Muskegon Avenue, authorities said. Two other men were wounded, but survived.

Debra Escobedo, 49, died Monday afternoon after being shot about 3 a.m. June 1 in the 2700 block of West 24th Street, authorities said. Escobedo, of the 3100 block of South Green Street, was talking with a group outside a bar when a gunman approached and opened fire, police and family said.

Overall, the medical examiner’s office has ruled at least 216 Chicago deaths in 2014 a homicide — including nine 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.

Cassius White shot to death in Washington Heights

Michael Lansu — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:48:24 -0500

Cassius White was killed in a drive-by shooting in the Washington Heights neighborhood that also left a teenage boy wounded.

White, 19, and the 16-year-old boy were in the 9600 block of South Sangamon Avenue when shots were fired about 12:30 a.m., authorities said.

White, of the 8200 block of South Dante Avenue, was shot in the abdomen area and died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn at 5:54 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

The 16-year-old was also wounded, but survived, police said.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.