WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 8 killed in Chicago, four on first three days of Labor Day weekend

Jeff Mayes — Sat, 09 Sep 2017 12:00:29 -0500

At least 8 people were killed in Chicago the week of August 28-Septmerber 03, including four on the first three days of the long Labor Day holiday weekend.

Sun-Times file photo by Ashlee Rezin

The final homicide of the week was also the 470th in the city this year, well below the same date in 2016, when the 500th homicide of the year was recorded on Sept. 4, according to Chicago Sun-Times records.

This year's 470th homicide came Sunday night, when one man was killed and another wounded in a shooting in the Belmont Central neighborhood on the Northwest Side. Felipe Bautista Jr., 26, and a 29-year-old man were standing on the sidewalk about 10:40 p.m. outside Bautista's home in the 5900 block of West Belden when a male suspect walked up and opened fire, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Bautista was shot in the torso, and was pronounced dead at the scene less than 20 minutes later, authorities said. He lived about a block away from the shooting. The older man was shot in the abdomen and taken in critical condition to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, police said.

In other homicides last week:

Another man was shot to death Sunday night in a vehicle in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the Far South Side. Former Julian High School football player Jeremy Tang, 20, was found suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest about 8:40 p.m. in the driver’s seat of a vehicle in the 800 block of West 102nd Street, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Tang, who lived in the Beverly neighborhood and attended Miles College in Alabama, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 9:53 p.m.

A west suburban man was found shot to death early Saturday in the West Side Austin neighborhood. Marrio "Rio" Battles, 39, was found lying on the ground with gunshot wounds to the head at 5:02 a.m. in the 1000 block of North Waller, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Battles, who lived in Hillside, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later. An autopsy Sunday found he died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
A man was shot to death and three other people were wounded early Saturday in a Gresham neighborhood attack on the South Side, according to police. The group, which included two men and two women, was hanging out on the front porch of a house about 1:20 a.m. in the 8300 block of South Hermitage when three people got out of a white car parked behind the house, walked up to them and opened fire, according to police.
James "Deeg" McChristian, 26, was shot in the chest and abdomen, and was pronounced dead at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said and the medical examiner’s office said. He lived in the same block as the shooting. The other man, 23, was shot in the shoulder, police said. He was listed in good condition at Christ Medical Center. A 25-year-old woman was also taken to Christ, where she was treated for gunshot wounds to the arm and abdomen. Her condition was stabilized. Another woman, 23, was shot in the leg and was listed in good condition at Christ.
Two men were shot to death Thursday afternoon in the Lawndale neighborhood on the Southwest Side. Monticello Scott and John Smith were outside about 3:20 p.m. near Scott’s home in the 1400 block of South Springfield when someone got out of a dark-colored sedan and began shooting at them, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
Scott, 22, and Smith, 24, were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. One was shot in the head and the other in the chest. Smith lived in the East Garfield Park neighborhood. The shooter got back in the vehicle and drove away. No one was in custody as of Friday morning.
A man was shot to death early Thursday on the block where he lived in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the Far South Side. Jermaine Jones, 42, was found about 5 a.m. with multiple gunshot wounds to the torso in the 11100 block of South Ashland, according to police and the medical examiner's office. Jones was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 24-year-old man was killed Monday afternoon in a drive-by shooting in the Gage Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side. At 4:17 p.m., Joshua Bates was sitting in a vehicle in the 5700 block of South Artesian when a dark SUV pulled up and a passenger opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner's office. Bates was shot in the chest, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He lived in Roseland.

--Homicide Watch Chicago

Felipe Bautista Jr. fatally shot, second man wounded while standing outside his home in Belmont Central

Jeff Mayes — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 10:02:37 -0500

Felipe Bautista Jr. was killed and another wounded in a shooting Sunday night outside his home in the Belmont Central neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

Bautista, 26; and a 29-year-old man were standing on the sidewalk about 10:40 p.m. in the 5900 block of West Belden, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A male suspect walked up and opened fire, police said.

Bautista was shot in the torso, police said.

Family members said he fell into his father's arms, where he died. He was pronounced dead at the scene less than 20 minutes later, authorities said.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with funeral expenses.

Jerry Bautista, who started the page, wrote that while he worked for Life Fitness, Felipe's true love was working on cars.

"Learning to work on cars became his passion.. always offering to help anybody who needed help with their cars in return for at times nothing but simply gain experience doing what he loved.

"He had recently settled into a job at Life Fitness in which he enjoyed traveling within the states for weeks at a time and had returned home for Labor Day only to be brutally shot and pass away in his father's arms. Our family migrated here from Mexico in search of a better life, not this."

The older man was shot in the abdomen and was taken in critical condition to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, police said.

No one was in custody as of Tuesday morning.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Felipe Bautista Jr. | Homicide Watch Chicago

WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 8 killed in Chicago, four on first three days of Labor Day weekend

Felipe Bautista Jr. fatally shot, second man wounded while standing outside his home in Belmont Central