Damian Williams | Homicide Watch Chicago

Brother: 'Father of the Year' Damian Williams shot dead getting dinner in Austin

Emily Brosious — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 12:33:34 -0500

BY JESSICA KOSCIELNIAK AND EMILY BROSIOUS
Homicide Watch Chicago

Damian Williams was on his way to dinner when he was shot dead last Thursday in the Austin neighborhood, his brother said.

“He had just left like 10 minutes before," said Williams' older brother, James Williams. "It all happened so fast. All I can remember is just running down and seeing him laying right there -- but I knew he was gone.”

Authorities said Damian Williams, 22, was standing with two men in the 5700 block of West Augusta Boulevard when somebody inside a tan Lincoln MKZ opened fire about 8:55 p.m. June 12.

Damian Williams, of the 5900 block of West Augusta Boulevard, was struck multiple times in the chest and died at Mount Sinai Hospital less than an hour later, authorities said. Another man, 23, was shot in the chest and groin and hospitalized in critical condition, police said.

James Williams described his brother as someone who saw what was going on in the streets and he chose to go a “totally different route.”

“He didn’t want jail. He didn’t want the police coming around him," James Williams said. "He didn’t want it.”

“He said drug dealing was not an option for him,” James Williams said.

Instead, Damian Williams recently took a job working at a Jewel warehouse to support his 1-year-old son, his brother said said.

“The way he was there for his baby, like, if there was a ‘Father-of-the-Year’ award, he had it,” James Williams said.

“That’s why it hurts so bad right now. I thought when you do good, good supposed to happen.”

Damian Williams / Photo from Facebook

Prior to the shooting, James Williams, 23, had recently returned to the Austin community after spending a year in Kansas trying to “get his life together.” He said he wants to say in the neighborhood, but knows he can't after his brother's death.

“I can’t walk down the street or go to the store down there, knowing that my little brother was murdered there on the street,” James Williams said.

He doesn’t know why someone would kill his brother and thinks the murder must have been a case of mistaken identity.

Nobody has 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.

Damian Williams killed in Austin area shooting

Emily Brosious — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 15:43:21 -0500

Damian Williams / Photo from Facebook

BY EMILY BROSIOUS
Homicide Watch Chicago

Damian Williams was killed in a Thursday night drive-by shooting in the Austin neighborhood that left another man critically injured.

Williams, 22, and two men were standing in front of a building in the 5700 bock of West Augusta Boulevard when a tan Lincoln MKZ drove by and someone inside fired several shots at 8:56 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

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.

Williams was born and raised on the West Side and attended Fredrick Douglas High School, family said. He leaves behind a 1-year-old son.

“He wasn’t out in the streets getting into trouble,” his cousin, Tyrone Davis, said. “He was just hanging with the wrong crowd because he liked hanging out. He always tried to leave if things started up.”

One of the other men, 23, was shot in the chest and groin, police said. He was hospitalized at Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition, police said.

The third man was not injured.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Contributing: Sun-Times Media Wire