DeAngelo Russell | Homicide Watch Chicago

Comment of the Day: "He helped me to see my potential as a writer of my verses"

Michael Lansu — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 16:00:25 -0500

Musician DeAngelo “Elloski” Russell was fatally shot last month in the South Chicago neighborhood. Reader "SugarMama Drama" posted this about him:

He was the hook master and helped me record "Sugarmama Drama" he helped me to see my potential as a writer of my verses. Wish I had taken the opportunity to continue but I'll never forget the time and energy he spent to help me with my song. Much Love he will always be my CEO

Mother: Slain musician DeAngelo 'Elloski' Russell 'was as real as real can be'

Michael Lansu — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 18:11:35 -0500

BY SUSAN DU
Homicide Watch Chicago

South Side musician DeAngelo "Elloski" Russell would open his studio to young rappers who needed the equipment to make beats.

Russell, 33, was fatally shot while walking with a friend in the 2600 block of East 83rd Street in the South Chicago community about 10:15 p.m. May 31, authorities said.

Russell, of the 8200 block of South Marquette Avenue, was shot in the thigh, leg and arm, authorities said. His friend was not injured.

Earlier that day, Russell was consoled a neighborhood family after the death of a loved one. The group hung out on the porch, laughing and taking photos with DeAngelo Russell's camera, family said.

Russell's mother, Ernestine Russell, said her son was on the way to a corner store when he was shot.

"It's a shame and it's senseless," Ernestine Russell said. "They don't know the heartfelt pain that went through me, the chills that went through after what they'd done.

"Whoever you are, you know your heart. Turn yourself in. I'm not mad. I'm not angry at you, but you have to turn yourself in because God knows what you did and it will haunt you, and haunt you and haunt you."

DeAngelo Russell graduated from Bowen High School and later became a musician who spent hours in a home recording studio writing lyrics, making beats and playing music that could often be heard through an open window, family said.

The young rappers he mentored called him "The CEO."

When DeAngelo Russell went out with friends he always brought his camera, family said. He enjoyed photography, especially capturing faces and moments illustrating life in his community.

"He was as for real as for real can be," his mother said. "A man of music, the artist. He was my everything. He was like the backbone of the family that picked the family up. When no one was there, DeAngelo was there ... That was my baby and I loved him to death."

Byron Owens, a childhood friend who played basketball with DeAngelo Russell at a back-alley hoop they constructed from crates and a bike rim, described "Ello" as an angel who spoke life into the community.

"It's taken a toll on me to the point that I really don't even want to come outside," Owens said. "The block feels empty, like the heart that we had on the block, it's heartbroken ... What did he used to say, 'We're all we got.'"

For Owens, the things he will miss most about DeAngelo Russell include the way he greeted his friends with open arms, his unrelenting positivity and his encouragement of young artists.

DeAngelo Russell didn't have children of his own, but he had a fatherly way of looking out for his nieces and nephews, his cousin, Charles Curvin, said.

"He wanted his nieces and nephews to know right from wrong, good from bad, how to go up to a person and greet them," Curvin said. "Even his enemies, his haters loved him to a certain extent because he always had some type of idea that they wanted, so they knew they had to suck up their pride. He kept this block organized. He kept everybody."

DeAngelo Russell / Photo from Facebook

Curvin remembered how DeAngelo Russell would open his studio to any young rapper who needed the equipment to make beats. Before giving advice about rap music he would tell young artists to stay in school and read constantly so they could write worthwhile songs.

Hershey Harrington, a longtime friend who recorded several songs with DeAngelo Russell, said they would rap about life in neighborhood, getting rich, taking care of her children, love and home.

"He did his own thing," Harrington said. "He didn't wait for anyone else to do it for him. This is what he loved. Everybody loved him."

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.

De Angelo Russell fatally shot in South Chicago

Michael Lansu — Sun, 01 Jun 2014 15:46:53 -0500

De Angelo Russell was shot to death Saturday night in the South Chicago neighborhood.

Russell, 33, 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., 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 Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Russell’s friend was not injured in the shooting, police said.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.