Ja-Quez Williams | Homicide Watch Chicago

Comment of the Day: "I can't even imagine the pain of losing one of my grandsons, especially to street violence"

Michael Lansu — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 16:07:13 -0500

Prosecutors claim Frederick Woods-Rivas fatally shot 17-year-old Ja-Quez Williams April 26 in the 5500 block of West North Avenue. Reader " sosideirish" posted this about the killing:

I can't even imagine the pain of losing one of my grandsons, especially to street violence. I will never understand the need to murder one another when, as a group, working together, we could accomplish so much. Another young life lost so senselessly. Prayers for the friends and family of this young man.

Grandmother: Slain teen Ja-Quez Williams wanted to be cop

Emily Brosious — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 10:21:08 -0500

BY JESSICA KOSCIELNIAK AND EMILY BROSIOUS
Homicide Watch Chicago

Ja-Quez Williams wanted to become a police officer to stop the violence in his Austin community, his family said.

The violence Ja-Quez, 17, longed to stop took his life before he ever got that chance when he was fatally shot in the head in the 5500 block of West North Avenue about 2:05 a.m. April 26, authorities said.

“He was a beautiful, vibrant person -- full of life,” said his grandmother, Inez Williams said. “It was a senseless thing, I really don’t understand. No children should be gunned down like cattle.”

Inez Williams raised her grandson from a young age, she said. The two shared a bedroom and prayed together at the end of the day.

Each night before drifting off to sleep he’d say, “Goodnight grandma,” Inez Williams said.

Prosecutors said Frederick Woods-Rivas, 23, walked up to a group standing outside and shot Ja-Quez in the back of the head. Judge Peggy Chiampas ordered Woods-Rivas held without bond.

Ja-Quez, of the 5400 block of West North Avenue, died at the scene, according to Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Ja-Quez had gone out to get a submarine sandwich and was waiting for his uncle to pick him up when he was gunned down, his grandmother said.

Inez Williams said the neighborhood is infested with gang activity, but claims Ja-Quez was not a gang member.

She has been weary of the gun violence in her neighborhood, but never expected it to affect her directly.

“Older guys, the ones that run the area over there, tased him and threw him in a car and tried to make him and the younger boys do things,” Inez Williams said. “They tell them they won’t go to jail because they’re minors.”

Inez Williams said her grandson wasn't a violent person and was afraid of the gang members who threatened him for trying to avoid the gang lifestyle.

“There’s just too much violence and kids shouldn’t have to live like that," she said. "It’s so prevalent in the city."

After the shooting, Mayor Rahm Emanuel called Inez Williams with condolences for the loss of her grandson, she said.

“I was surprised he called because I was feeling so hurt and I didn’t know really which way to turn,” she said. “He said when children are getting gunned down like that, we’ve got to do something together.”

Inez Williams hopes Emanuel can develop strategies to stop the violence.

"Young people with guns need to understand the real impact of their actions and empathize with the pain they cause victims’ family and loved ones," she said.

Prosecutors: Frederick Woods-Rivas fatally shot Ja-Quez Williams in the back of the head

Michael Lansu — Fri, 30 May 2014 15:18:54 -0500

Frederick Woods-Rivas / Photo from Chicago Police

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Frederick Woods-Rivas was ordered held without bond Friday for allegedly fatally shooting 17-year-old Ja-Quez Williams last month in the Austin neighborhood.

Ja-Quez was standing with a group on a sidewalk in the 5500 block of West North Avenue when 23-year-old Woods-Rivas walked up behind Ja-Quez and shot him in the back of the head about 2:05 a.m. April 26, said Assistant State’s Attorney Glen Runk.

Ja-Quez had gone out to get a submarine sandwich and was waiting for his uncle to pick him up when he was gunned down, his grandmother, Inez Williams, said.

Ja-Quez, of the 5400 block of West North Avenue, was dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

“He was a beautiful, vibrant person – full of life,” Inez Williams said. “It was a senseless thing, I really don’t understand. No children should be gunned down like cattle.”

After the shooting, Woods-Rivas fled to his nearby home, Runk said.

The shooting was captured on video surveillance and witnesses identified Woods-Rivas as the shooter, Runk said. Some of the witnesses knew Woods-Rivas from the neighborhood.

An arrest warrant was issued and Woods-Rivas was taken into custody in Minnesota and extradited back to Chicago on murder charges, Runk said.

On Friday, Judge Peggy Chiampas ordered Woods-Rivas held without bond. He has no prior conviction as an adult and Assistant Public Defender Marijane Placek said he is not in a gang.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Eight killed in citywide violence

Michael Lansu — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 08:51:41 -0500

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Eight people were murdered throughout Chicago last week, raising the city's homicide total to nearly 100.

Five of the eight killings happened over the weekend, which also saw 35 other people wounded by gunfire.

The most recent murder happened when 40-year-old Cicero resident Benito Juarez was stabbed during an argument in the 4100 block of West 26th Street about 4:40 a.m. Sunday, authorities said.

Several males approached Juarez as he walked, an argument ensued and Juarez was stabbed in the neck, authorities said. Juarez, of the 2100 block of South 50th Avenue in Cicero, died about an hour later at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Juarez is expected to be the 100th non-police-involved shooting Chicago death ruled a homicide by the medical examiner's office following a Monday autopsy.

In the Logan Square neighborhood, 21-year-old Cindy Bahena was fatally shot while riding in a vehicle in 3500 West Fullerton Avenue about 12:35 a.m. Sunday, authorities said.

A group of males standing on a nearby sidewalk yelled gang slogans at the vehicle then at least one person opened fire, according to police, who said the driver is a known gang member.

Bahena, of the 200 block of North Laramie Avenue, was struck by the gunfire and died at Norwegian-American Hospital at 12:47 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

On Saturday, 17-year-old Jaquez Williams was standing in the 5500 block of West North Avenue when a gunman shot him in the head about 2 a.m., authorities said.

Williams, of the 5400 block of West North Avenue, was dead at the scene, according to the medical examiner's office.

In the Back of the Yards neighborhood, 21-year-old Martavian Emery was fatally shot while in the kitchen area of a home in the 5400 block of South Winchester Avenue about 1:15 a.m. Saturday, authorities. A second person in the kitchen was also wounded.

Detectives believe the gunman opened fire from outside the home, police said.

On Friday, 32-year-old Leonore Draper was fatally shot while in her car 11500 block of South Laflin Street about 10:35 p.m., authorities said.

Draper, of the 1100 block of South Laflin Street, was shot in the right arm and chest and died about two hours later at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, authorities said.

Family members said Draper had just attended A Charitable Confection, a fundraiser on the Near South Side to raise money for teen anti-violence group Project Orange Tree. The group was formed by King College Prep students after the shooting death of Hadiya Pendleton last year.

On Thursday, 22-year-old Darius Kelly was killed in a drive-by shooting in the 900 block of West 83rd Street about 6:25 p.m., authorities said.

Kelly, of the 200 block of West 95th Street, was shot multiple times and died at the scene, according to the medical examiner's office.

In the North Lawndale neighborhood, 19-year-old Demario Collins was in a vehicle in the 1600 block of South St. Louis Avenue when three males opened fire about 3:05 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

Collins, of the 2100 block of South St. Louis Avenue, was shot in the head, arm and shoulder and died at Mount Sinai Hospital, authorities said.

The killings started about 6:15 a.m. last Monday when emergency personnel found Quinton Jackson with a gunshot wound to the head in the hallway of a building in the 7800 block of South Ingleside Avenue, authorities said.

Jackson, 22, of the 100 block of East 103rd Street, was dead on the scene, according to the medical examiner's office.

Nobody has been charged in any of the murders.

However, Ana Rosa Mora was charged with murder after her newborn son was found wrapped in a plastic bag in the 2700 block of North Hamlin Avenue about 8:30 a.m. April 19, authorities said. Autopsy results were initially inconclusive pending a police investigation.

Mora, 18, of the 2700 block of North Hamlin, was admitted to putting the live infant inside a plastic bag and leaving him lying in a gangway, police said.

On Saturday, Mora was ordered held on $500,000 bond.

Overall, the medical examiner’s office has ruled at least 104 Chicago deaths in 2014 a homicide — including five 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 at least five of the homicides as involuntary manslaughter, justified self-defense or accidents.

Jaquez Williams, 17, fatally shot in Austin community

Michael Lansu — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 10:37:05 -0500

Jaquez Williams was fatally shot early Saturday in the Austin neighborhood.

Williams, 17, was standing in the 5500 block of West North Avenue when an unidentified person approached and shot him in the head about 2 a.m., authorities said.

Williams, of the 5400 block of West North Avenue, was dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Nobody has been charged in the murder.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire