Gregory Dixon | Homicide Watch Chicago

Prosecutors: Ian Armstrong fatally shot Gregory Dixon as he slept in a Kenwood residence

Michael Lansu — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 18:22:02 -0600

Ian Armstrong / Photo from Chicago Police

BY LEEANN SHELTON
Sun-Times Media

A Rogers Park man awaiting trial on gun charges was ordered held without bond Monday after authorities said DNA linked him to a unrelated 2013 attack where a man was fatally shot 11 times at close range while sleeping.

Ian Armstrong, 29, was charged with first-degree murder for the May 25, 2013, shooting that killed Gregory Dixon in the 1400 block of East 52nd Street in the Kenwood neighborhood, authorities said.

Dixon, 29, and a woman were sleeping in a bedroom inside a 7th-floor apartment when Armstrong and another suspect rang the buzzer, said Assistant State's Attorney Robert Mack.

Both suspects were masked and carrying loaded firearms, Mack said.

The person who lived at the apartment could not make out what was being said over the intercom, but buzzed the gunman into the building anyway, Mack said.

The tenant initially opened the apartment door, but then tried to slam it shut when he saw the two masked men rushing toward him, according to Mack, who said the armed attackers then pushed their way inside and went into the bedroom where Dixon sleeping.

Dixon was shot 11 times at close range in the head and chest, authorities said. Dixon, who lived on the block, died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The woman sleeping next to Dixon said she saw the shooters enter and leave the room, Mack said. Security cameras also captured the men entering the building and heading upstairs.

Investigators found bullets, shell casings and a trail of fresh blood drops going from the bedroom to the entrance of the apartment, Mack said.

Just over an hour after the shooting, Armstrong arrived at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn looking for treatment for a gunshot wound to his left hand, Mack said.

While at the hospital, Armstrong washed a black substance off his hand against a nurse’s orders and refused to tell Oak Lawn police how he was shot, said Mack, who added Armstrong left the hospital 17 minutes after arriving.

Authorities got a search warrant to collect DNA from Armstrong after tests determined the trail of blood drops were not from Dixon, Mack said. Nobody else was injured.

Armstrong’s DNA matched the trail of blood found at the scene and he was charged with murder, Mack said. The second suspect has not been charged.

On Monday, Judge Laura Sullivan ordered Armstrong held without bond.

Armstrong, of the 1200 block of West Loyola Avenue, was already being held in the Cook County Jail on a $50,000 bond stemming from an Oct. 18 unrelated arrest for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to court records.

He will be back in court on the murder charge Nov. 18.

Ian Armstrong charged with murder in Kenwood shooting death of Gregory Dixon

Michael Lansu — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 15:04:55 -0500

Ian Armstrong / Photo from Chicago Police

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

A Rogers Park man has been charged with murder for a fatal 2013 Memorial Day weekend shooting in the Kenwood neighborhood.

Chicago Police said 29-year-old Ian Armstrong was identified through DNA as a "participant" in a May 25, 2013, murder in the 1400 block of East 52nd Street.

Gregory Dixon, 29, was shot to death about about 1:50 p.m. that day about a half-mile from President Barack Obama’s Kenwood home.

Dixon had buzzed the gunmen into an apartment building, police said at the time. The attackers then entered a unit through an open door and shot Dixon in the chest and back, police said.

Dixon, who lived on the block, died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

It was not immediately clear if Armstrong, of the 1200 block of West Loyola Avenue, was the shooter, but he was charged this week with first-degree murder for his alleged involvement in the slaying, authorities said.

Armstrong is currently being held in Cook County Jail on an unrelated charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to jail records.

On Friday, Judge Peggy Chiampas ordered Armstrong appear in court Monday for a bond hearing.

6 dead, 23 wounded in holiday weekend violence

Sun-Times Media Wire — Tue, 28 May 2013 09:25:41 -0500

Six people were killed and at least 23 wounded in violence across Chicago since Friday evening.

Chicago police said the weekend’s gun violence represents a significant drop compared with Memorial Day Weekend in 2012, when shootings throughout the city killed 10 people and hurt 47 others.

The most recent fatal shooting happened early Sunday in the Goose Island area on the city’s Near North Side.

Charles Jones, 42, the manager of a Far South Side gentleman’s club, was shot to death in a confrontation with another motorist, whose 2005 Buick LaCrosse sideswiped Jones’ Maserati, police said.

Jones was shot about 2:50 a.m. in the 1000 block of North Branch Street and a 42-year-old woman in his car was wounded, police sad. Authorities said Jones lived in the 1100 block of North Dearborn in Chicago and also had a home in the 2900 block of Indian Creek Drive in Miami, Fla.

When Jones pulled over to talk to the driver of the Buick, the driver and a passenger the car, walked to another vehicle and then came back. One of them had a gun and shot Jones, police said. Jones was declared dead at 3:33 a.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. The woman with Jones was shot in the back or hip and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said. Area Central detectives and the police Major Accident Investigation Unit were investigating, but nobody was in custody.

About 2:10 a.m. Sunday, Malcolm Dobbey, 27, was shot to death in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side. Police officers had responded to a call of a disturbance in the 12100 block of South Indiana Avenue and, while dealing with the disturbance, found a man unresponsive in a backyard.

Dobbey, of the 600 block of East 92nd Street, was pronounced dead at 3:20 a.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the medical examiner’s office. Area South detectives questioned a “person of interest” in the fatal shooting, but that person was later released without being charged.

Two other men were shot to death in separate shootings Saturday on the South Side.

Ferro Denard, 18, was shot in the head during a possible drive-by in the 7300 block of South Dorchester about 9:20 p.m. Saturday, authorities said. Denard, who lived on the block, was dead on the scene.

About 1:50 a.m. Saturday, Gregory Dixon, 29, was shot to death about half a mile from President Barack Obama’s Kenwood neighborhood home. Dixon buzzed the gunmen into an apartment building in the 1400 block of East 52nd Street, authorities said. The attackers then entered a unit through a door left ajar and shot Dixon in the chest and back. Dixon was dead on the scene, authorities said.

Two men were shot to death Friday night in separate shootings on the West Side.

About 11:45 p.m. Friday, Tevin Kirkman, 22, was found shot outside his home in the 1100 block of North Lawndale, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at 12:20 a.m. at Mount Sinai Hospital.

About 11 p.m. Friday, Leetema Daniels, 17, was shot in the head and died at the scene in the 400 block of North Central in the Austin neighborhood. An 18-year-old man was shot in the chest in that incident and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital.

At least 21 others have been wounded in violence throughout the city since Friday night.