Jasmine Curry | Homicide Watch Chicago

WEEK IN REVIEW: 12 dead from Chicago shootings

Michael Lansu — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 09:51:49 -0500

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Twelve people died last week from shootings throughout Chicago.

Three of the shootings happened early last Monday at the end of a bloody Independence Day weekend that saw 13 people killed and 58 others wounded by gunfire.

The last shooting of the week happened when a gunman walked up to 28-year-old William Lewis in the 1300 block of West Devon Avenue and shot him in the head 3:20 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.

Lewis, of the 4700 block of North Hermitage Avenue, died at Presence Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston less than an hour later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

In the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, 27-year-old Adarrius Thompson and his 50-year-old mother were shot during a domestic dispute at their home in the 6200 block of South Rockwell Street, authorities said.

Thompson was shot in the chest and died at the scene. His mother was also shot in the chest and was hospitalized at Mount Sinai Hospital in serious condition, authorities said.

On Friday, 32-year-old Damion Bryant was shot in the head just outside his home in the 5200 block of West Quincy Street in the Austin neighborhood and died at the scene about 8 p.m., authorities said. Three other people were wounded in the shooting but survived.

On Wednesday, Jasmine Curry -- a pregnant 24-year-old mother of five -- was shot while in a minivan traveling south on the Dan Ryan Expressway near 59th Street, family said.

“I just don’t understand young people in Chicago today,” said her father, Pierre Curry. “They don’t give a damn. They ain’t got no heart.”

Jasmine Curry’s death comes slightly less than a year after her brother Pierce L. Curry was fatally shot while riding in a vehicle on the South Side in the early morning hours of Aug. 27, 2013.

On Tuesday, 23-year-old Bruce Wright was shot while riding a bicycle in the 900 block of North Hamlin Avenue about 10:10 p.m., authorities said. Wright, of the 0-100 block of North Hamlin Avenue, was shot in the head and died at the scene.

Wright was previously wounded in the left forearm just six days earlier — on July 2. He told police he heard shots and felt pain in his arm.

On Sept. 2, he was shot in his left wrist during a drive-by shooting, police said.

In the Washington Heights neighborhood, 17-year-old Marcel Pearson and a 15-year-old acquaintance had just left a store and were walking through Robichaux Park in the 9200 block of South Eggleston Avenue when a white van pulled up about 10 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said. A gunman exited and opened fire — hitting Pearson in the chest and back, police said.

Pearson, of the 1400 block of West 114th Place, was dead at the scene by the time emergency personnel arrived, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Friends said Pearson played basketball at Johnson College Prep High School was about to start at Western Illinois University.

On Monday, 19-year-old Jaynisha Scheffer was walking with a group in the 2200 block of West 69th Street when someone rode up on a bicycle and opened fire at 7:05 p.m., authorities said.

Scheffer, of the 7600 block of South Paulina Street, was shot in the back and died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn later that night, authorities said.

In the South Chicago neighborhood, 24-year-old Joey Henderson was shot in the 8400 block of South Buffalo Avenue when he was shot about 2:20 a.m. Monday, authorities said.

Henderson, who lived on the block, was shot in the back, chest, right arm and eye and died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about an hour later, authorities said.

In the Washington Heights neighborhood, 19-year-old Cassius White and a 16-year-old acquaintance were shot in the 9600 block of South Sangamon Avenue about 12:30 a.m. Monday, authorities said.

White, of the 8200 block of South Dante Avenue, was shot in the abdomen area and died later that day at Christ Medical Center, according to the medical examiner’s office. The 16-year-old was also wounded, but survived, police said.

The killings started when 44-year-old Tonya Gunn was leaning against a car and talking to her cousin after a cookout at her grandfather’s house in the 10900 block of South Throop Street when gunshots rang out about 12:30 a.m. Monday, authorities said.

Gunn, who lived on the block, was shot in the side and died less than an hour later at Roseland Community Hospital.

“As far as her being in the wrong place at the wrong time — I can’t say that,” Gunn’s cousin, Annette Scott, said.

Additionally, two people died last week from earlier gunshot wounds.

William Allen, 25, of the 3500 block of South State Street, died last Monday after being shot June 6 near East 80th Street and South Muskegon Avenue, authorities said. Two other men were wounded, but survived.

Debra Escobedo, 49, died Monday afternoon after being shot about 3 a.m. June 1 in the 2700 block of West 24th Street, authorities said. Escobedo, of the 3100 block of South Green Street, was talking with a group outside a bar when a gunman approached and opened fire, police and family said.

Overall, the medical examiner’s office has ruled at least 216 Chicago deaths in 2014 a homicide — including nine 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.

VIDEO: Father discusses the fatal shooting of Jasmine Curry on the Dan Ryan Expressway

Michael Lansu — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 11:28:19 -0500

Jasmine Curry was fatally shot on the Dan Ryan Expressway Wednesday morning. Her father talks about the loss:

Pregnant mother of five Jasmine Curry killed in shooting on Dan Ryan Expressway

Michael Lansu — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 09:15:07 -0500

Jasmine Curry / Submitted photo

BY STEFANO ESPOSITO
Chicago Sun-Times

As traffic crawled past the blue minivan with its windows shot out Wednesday morning, Pierre Curry found himself in a horribly familiar situation — getting ready to pick out a casket for one of his children.

About 4 a.m., in the southbound lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway near 59th Street, an unknown gunman shot one of his daughters, Jasmine Curry, 24 — a pregnant mother of five.

Police were talking to a young woman who was believed to be inside the Dodge Caravan minivan at the time of the shooting, Pierre Curry said investigators have told him. Police were looking to talk to another young man believed to have been in the minivan, Curry said.

Illinois State Police had said they were working with the Chicago Police Department to try to find any other vehicles involved, and by Wednesday afternoon, they announced they were looking for a silver Dodge Intrepid in connection with the shooting.

Pierre Curry said he isn’t sure why his daughter was driving so late at night, except perhaps to visit some friends in the area. He said his daughter — five months’ pregnant — was due to start a new job at the Ford City Mall Wednesday.

A weary-looking Curry lost a 17-year-old son to gun violence last August — shot in the head, he said, just like his daughter.

“I just don’t understand young people in Chicago today,” said the 45-year-old, who has three other children. “They don’t give a damn. They ain’t got no heart.”

Jasmine’s children, ranging in age from one to nine, are staying with a grandmother, Pierre Curry said.

Illinois State Police called the shooting “an isolated incident.”

Police said the shots were fired as the Dodge was southbound on the Dan Ryan somewhere between 55th and 59th street. Three people were inside the minivan at the time, with two of them escaping uninjured, police said.

The minivan belonged to Curry, and she often used it to take her children to school and daycare, her cousin, Ieshia Curry, said.

“She was a sweet person, she was kind, outgoing,” said Ieshia Curry, 19. “She would do anything for anybody.”

Police were still interviewing witnesses and checking footage from surveillance cameras in the area early Wednesday, State Police Capt. Luis Gutierrez said.

Southbound local lanes of the highway were closed in the vicinity of the shooting for several hours Wednesday morning but had reopened by early Wednesday afternoon.

Jasmine Curry’s death comes slightly less than a year after her brother Pierce L. Curry was fatally shot while riding in a vehicle on the South Side in the early morning hours of Aug. 27, 2013.

Pierce Curry, 17, was in the back seat of a car when gunfire errupted from another car in the 6200 block of South State Street, police said. A single bullet struck Curry in the head, police said.

As Pierre Curry waited beneath the rusting L tracks along the Dan Ryan for information about his daughter’s killing, he saw no end to the plague of violence on the South Side.

“I ain’t scared of these fools out here. They took two of my children,” he said. “It ain’t going to stop with mine. It’s going to keep going on and on.”