Comment of the Day; "No parent should lose their child to such senseless violence"

Michael Lansu — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 16:05:03 -0500

Preacher Charles Short, 51, was fatally shot last month in the Fuller Park neighborhood. Reader "Matt S" posted this about the killing:

My sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Short. I find it incredibly sad that a simple trip to the grocery store cost Mr. Short his life. 51 or 5, no parent should lose their child to such senseless violence. I hope his killer is brought to justice.

Family: Preacher Charles Short, 51, killed returning from grocery

Emily Brosious — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 10:32:05 -0500

Charles Short / Family photo

BY EMILY BROSIOUS
Homicide Watch Chicago

A 51-year-old ordained preacher was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was fatally shot last month in the Fuller Park neighborhood, his family said.

Charles D. Short was standing with a 32-year-old man in the 4200 block of South Princeton Avenue when when a gunman opened fire about 6:30 p.m. May 30, authorities said.

Short was struck in the head died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The younger man was wounded but survived.

Short, who lived nearby, was coming home from the grocery to cook dinner, said his mother, Kate Taylor.

“He liked cooking,” she said. “He was good. He’d cook up ham hocks."

Short’s was an ordained preacher at Lord’s Way Baptist Church at 1250 E. 75th Street, his mother said.

“He had so many favorite passages,” Taylor said. “He could quote them from memory.”

Short grew up on the South Side with his large family, relatives said.
Recently laid off from his job at a security company, Short was considering going back to school, Taylor said.

“He was a good person. You could ask him for anything,” said Short's mother, Kate Taylor. “He wasn’t involved with any gangs ... It wasn’t anything like that.”

Short leaves behind three children and five siblings.

Nobody has been charged for the murder. Area Central detectives are investigating.

WEEK IN REVIEW: 14 murdered throughout Chicago

Michael Lansu — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 09:17:44 -0500

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Fourteen people were murdered throughout Chicago last week -- including two people in their 50s.

Nine of the murders happened on South Side, four on the West Side and one on the North Side. The Austin community had the most killings last week with three.

The most recent murder happened when 27-year-old Eric Kall was shot multiple times in the 6200 block of South Francisco Avenue shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

Kall, of the 5100 block of South Moody Avenue, died at Holy Cross Hospital about 20 minutes later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

In the South Deering community, 31-year-old Denero Appleton was shot while standing outside in the 9600 block of South Brennan Avenue when several people walked up and opened fire at 8:48 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

Appleton, of the 9900 block of South Calhoun Avenue, died later at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the medical examiner’s office.

In the Austin community, 17-year-old Donald Williams was standing with a group of females near North Lavergne Avenue and West Ferdinand Street when several gunmen emerged from a nearby alley and opened fire about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, authorities said.

Williams, of the 3000 block of West Dickens Street, was shot in the back and died at Mount Sinai Hospital at 1:19 a.m. Sunday, authorities said. Two teenage girls and three women were also wounded.

On Saturday, 16-year-old Nicholas Keener was walking with a group in the 3800 block of North St. Louis Avenue in the Irving Park community when shots were fired from a passing vehicle about 10:30 p.m., authorities said.

Keener, of the 4800 block of North Hamlin Avenue, was shot in the chest and died at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center less than an hour later, authorities said.

In the South Chicago neighborhood, 33-year-old De Angelo Russell was walking with a friend in the 2600 block of East 83rd Street when at least one gunman walked up and fired shots about 10:15 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.

Russell, of the 8200 block of South Marquette Avenue, was shot in the thigh, leg and arm and died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the medical examiner’s office.

In the Chatham neighborhood, 21-year-old McArthur Swindle was sitting in a sport-utility vehicle in the 700 block of East 87th Street when someone walked up and fatally shot him about 3:20 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.

Swindle — who went by the name Nuski as a rapper — was a relative of prominent Chicago rapper Lil Durk.

On Friday, 51-year-old Charles D. Short was standing with another man in the 4200 block of South Princeton Avenue in the Fuller Park neighborhood when a vehicle drove up and a male exited and started shooting in their direction about 6:30 p.m. Friday, authorities said.

Short, 51, of the 6700 block of South Indiana Avenue, was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the medical examiner’s office.

On Thursday, 19-year-old Malcolm Stuckey was on a porch in the 5700 block of South La Salle Street in the Englewood neighborhood when someone walked out of a gangway and fired shots about 6:10 p.m., authorities said.

Stuckey, 19, of the 16000 block of Carrington Drive in South Holland, was shot in the head and declared dead at 10:35 p.m., authorities said. Two other men, 23 and 24, were also wounded in the shooting.

On the South Side, 58-year-old Betty Howard was shot in the head in the 700 block of East 79th Street about 5:25 p.m. Thursday, authorities said. Howard, of of the 2200 block of South 14th Avenue in Broadview, died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital less than an hour later.

Howard was a special education teacher Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep and was working her second job in her Chatham real estate office when she was shot.

In the South Shore neighborhood, 21-year-old Craig Mitchell was shot multiple times in the 2400 block of East 74th Street about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, authorities said. He was declared dead on the scene.

On Tuesday, 21-year-old Paul Pyron was driving a black Ford Expedition in the 2300 block of West 80th Street in the Ashburn neighborhood when two people approached and shot him during a carjacking about 10:25 p.m., authorities said.

Pyron died later that night at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the medical examiner's office.

Friends said Pyron was an aspiring rapper who was always telling jokes.

On Monday, 33-year-old Monte Tillman was fatally shot about 3:15 p.m. in the 5200 block of West Lake Street in the Austin community, authorities said. Tillman, of the 1100 block of Thomas Avenue in Forest Park, died about an hour later at Stroger Hospital, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Tillman’s cousin, the Rev. Ezra Tillman of First Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in Flint, Mich., said Monte Tillman got involved in Chicago’s gang culture and the family was “hurt but not shocked” to learn of his death.

In the East Garfield Park neighborhood, police found 47-year-old Vincent Simmons in a vacant apartment in the the 2800 block of West Arthington Street about 7:15 a.m. Monday, authorities said. Simmons and a 43-year-old man were each stabbed and shot in the head.

Simmons, of the 2700 block of West Harrison Street, was dead at the scene, according to the medical examiner’s office. The other man survived, police said.

The killings started when 25-year-old Lance Stanton was shot 5400 block of West Haddon Avenue in the Austin neighborhood about 1 a.m., authorities said. Stanton, who lived on the block, died at Stroger Hospital.

Nobody has been charged in any of the murders.

Overall, the medical examiner’s office has ruled at least 156 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, recorded 134 murders through May, ruling the other homicides as involuntary manslaughter, justified self-defense or accidents.

Charles Short, 51, fatally shot in Fuller Park area

Michael Lansu — Sat, 31 May 2014 11:55:49 -0500

Scene where Charles D. Short was fatally shot / Photo by Alex Wroblewski

Charles D. Short was killed in a Friday night shooting in the Fuller Park neighborhood that left another man wounded.

The men were standing in the 4200 block of South Princeton Avenue when a vehicle drove up and a male exited and started shooting in their direction about 6:30 p.m. Friday, police said.

Short, 51, of the 6700 block of South Indiana Avenue, was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The other man, 32, was shot in the chest and was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, police said.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area Central detectives are investigating.

Scene where Charles D. Short was fatally shot / Photo by Alex Wroblewski

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Charles D. Short | Homicide Watch Chicago

Comment of the Day; "No parent should lose their child to such senseless violence"

Family: Preacher Charles Short, 51, killed returning from grocery

WEEK IN REVIEW: 14 murdered throughout Chicago

Charles Short, 51, fatally shot in Fuller Park area