Christon Barlow | Homicide Watch Chicago

WEEK IN REVIEW: Nine people killed in Chicago violence last week

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 11:56:38 -0500

By JARED LANDSMAN and TRISTAN SIMS
Homicide Watch Chicago

At least nine people were killed in Chicago last week, all of them fatally shot.

Shootings since Friday night alone left three men dead and at least 18 other people wounded, according to Chicago Police.

The latest killing happened Sunday afternoon in the Roseland neighborhood on the Far South Side, police said.

22-year-old Martell Smith was walking in the 9900 block of South State Street at 2:10 p.m. when a vehicle drove up, and someone inside fired shots, police said.

Smith, who lived on the same block, was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Police are investigating whether the shooting was gang-related.

Saturday evening, a 21-year-old man was shot to death near his home in the South Side Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood.

Eric Turner was standing outside near a home in the 7300 block of South Dorchester at 7 p.m. when someone walked out of a gangway and fired shots before running off, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Turner, who lived on the same block, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died at 7:43 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

A 32-year-old man was shot and killed early Saturday in a Back of the Yards neighborhood drive-by.

About 3:40 a.m., Joaquin Rocha was a passenger in a car in the 4500 block of South Hermitage when an SUV pulled alongside and someone inside opened fire, striking him in the torso, police and the medical examiner’s office said.

Rocha, of the 4700 block of South Springfield, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was later pronounced dead, authorities said.

An hour earlier in the Southwest Side Gage Park neighborhood, 21-year-old Joseph Rivera was shot while sitting in his car at a stop light. He died about 12 hours later.

Rivera stopped his car at a light about 2:25 a.m. in the 2500 block of West 51st Street when an SUV pulled up and someone inside started yelling gang slogans and firing a gun, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Rivera, of the 5800 block of South Tripp, was shot in the head and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died at 2:20 p.m. Saturday.

On Thursday afternoon at a car wash in the Edgewater neighborhood, 21-year-old Devone Matthews was fatally shot at his work establishment.

At about 4:45 p.m., an unknown person entered the business, where Matthews worked, in the 5900 block of North Ridge, pulled a handgun and fired several shot at Matthews, police said.

The 21-year-old, who lived in the 6100 block of North Damen Avenue, was shot in the back and taken to Presence Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he was pronounced dead at 5:25 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Detectives are investigating whether the shooting was gang-related.

20-year-old Negeal Smith was shot and killed about 12:05 a.m. Thursday in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side.

Smith, of the 3600 block of West Douglas Boulevard, was sitting in the backseat of a vehicle in the 1400 block of South Lawndale at 12:05 a.m. when a gunman walked up and fired shots, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Smith, who was shot in the head, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.

52-year-old Christon Barlow was shot and died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Tuesday evening, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Barlow lived in a Bronzeville nursing home, where he was popular among the staff and fellow residents, and worked as a driver for other residents and often would run errands for the staff, according to his sister.

Tuesday night, Barlow was out picking up a few things for other residents when he was shot and killed.

He was one of four shot near the intersection of 35th and Indiana—a block south of the nursing home—about 8:30 p.m., according to police. He was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about a half hour later. He was the lone fatality. Two men, ages 18 and 20, and a 20-year-old woman were also shot.

34-year-old Lucille Barnes was killed in the Gresham neighborhood late Tuesday on the South Side.

Barnes, 34, was shot in the abdomen and taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died at 12:49 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

21-year-old Devon Davis was shot and killed in a shooting Tuesday afternoon in the Great Grand Crossing neighborhood on the South Side, police said.

Davis was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene. Police are investigating if the shooting might have been a drive-by attack.

Christian Barlow popular guy at Bronzeville nursing home where he lived, worked

Jeff Mayes — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 10:05:48 -0500

Christon Barlow

By SAM CHARLES
Sun-Times Media Wire

After he came out of a week-and-a-half long coma last December, lifelong South Shore resident Christon Barlow moved into a Bronzeville nursing home.

In his seven months living there, the 52-year-old Barlow became popular among the staff and fellow residents. In fact, he was hired on as a driver for other residents and often would run errands for the staff and others who lived there, according to his sister.

Tuesday night, Barlow was out picking up a few things for other residents and the nursing home staff when he was shot and killed.

“He’d gotten so well-known over there in the home that they hired him to be their transporter for patients, to go to the store for nurses and patients, and this is how he ended up,” said his sister, Phyllys Barlow-Greene.

He was one of four shot near the intersection of 35th and Indiana — a block south of the nursing home — about 8:30 p.m., according to police. He was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about a half hour later. He was the lone fatality. Two men, ages 18 and 20, and a 20-year-old woman were also shot.

A man who did not want to be named said he was in a car on 35th Street when another car traveling north on Prairie turned left onto 35th and someone inside opened fire toward the victims. The car—which he estimated had four people in it—then crashed into his car. The people in the other car then ran off, he said.

“He was very helpful with all the staff and residents,” said Angel Wells, the director of nursing at Bronzeville Park Skilled Living and Nursing Center.

She added that Barlow would make a point to ask residents with mobility issues if he could pick anything up for them or help them in any way.

A Chicago Police officer at the scene said the attack was a drive-by shooting and detectives are reviewing surveillance footage from several neighboring businesses.

Barlow was a former construction worker who had been placed on disability in recent years after he developed respiratory problems. Those breathing issues, which included asthma, would eventually lead to the coma, his sister said.

Barlow-Greene said she moved her family to Sumter, South Carolina, two years ago to get away from gun violence in Chicago.

Barlow, the second-oldest of five children, helped care for his grandmother before his coma, his sister said. The day he went into it, his grandmother died.

He had two adult children, one son and one daughter, and several nieces who “called him ‘Uncle Crazy’ because he kept them laughing,” his sister said.

A lover of music, Barlow was a drummer who often showcased his dance moves, his sister said.

“You put a song on and that boy would step down,” she said.

Barlow-Greene said that detectives told her two people were in custody for the shooting, which the Chicago Police Department’s News Affairs office could not confirm Wednesday evening.

Christon Barlow killed, three other people wounded in Bronzeville drive-by

Jeff Mayes — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 09:40:18 -0500

By SAM CHARLES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Christon Barlow was killed and three other people injured in a Bronzeville neighborhood drive-by shooting Tuesday evening, about a block away from Chicago Police headquarters.

It happened about 8:30 p.m. near the intersection of 35th and Indiana, authorities said.

Barlow, 52, of the 2400 block of East 73rd Street, was shot in the back and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died at 8:57 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A man and woman, both 18, were taken to Stroger Hospital with gunshot wounds to the back. Her condition was critical and his serious, police said. Another man, 20, was shot in the leg and taken to a hospital, where his condition had stabilized.

Christon Barlow

A Chicago Police officer at the scene said the attack was a drive-by shooting and detectives are reviewing surveillance footage from several neighboring businesses.

After the shooting, an officer told two women who witnessed the gunfire that recent gun violence in the area likely stemmed from social media feuds.

“It’s got nothing to do with politics. You got gang wars started over something somebody said on Twitter or Facebook,” he said.

Authorities investigate a shooting that injured four people Tuesday afternoon near the intersection of 35th and Indiana. | Sam Charles, Chicago Sun-Times Wire