Javon Wilson | Homicide Watch Chicago

Report on gun violence in Cook County call for more cooperation between Chicago and suburban police departments

Jeff Mayes — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 13:28:17 -0600

By ANDY GRIMM
Chicago Sun-Times

Cook COUnty Commissioner Richard Boykin | Sun-Times file photo

While crime does not respect municipal boundaries, police agencies in Cook County have no uniform way to compare crime data or trace weapons used in crime, according to a report from a county task force on gun violence.

The wide-ranging report, released Wednesday after 10 months of research and public hearings, offers a variety of policy suggestions and suggested tactics to reduce violence in the county, from endorsing “hot spot” patrols to increased funding for employment to anti-violence programs — but it was not clear how many of the recommendations would take hold.

“We have a blueprint. We have to implement it,” Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin said after the board of commissioners formally entered the report into the record. The meeting had begun with a resolution honoring Javon Wilson, grandson of U.S. Rep. Danny Davis. Wilson, a 17-year-old honor student, was gunned down in November at his home in Englewood, one of more than 740 homicides in Chicago so far this year.

The report endorses “hot spot” police measures — sending officers to areas with surging crime — and called for more community-oriented policing, familiar themes of contemporary crime-fighting.

But the authors also called for creating a consortium of academic, law enforcement and public health groups to coordinate research on violence, and for local police agencies to coordinate gun traces and crime reporting.

Boykin said federal law prevents the Illinois State Police from sharing data on gun traces with any group other than the law enforcement agency that requests the trace, but individual police agencies could share the information among themselves.

An intra-county database could allow police to follow guns, helping solve crimes and locate sources of weapons, said John Donovan, special assistant and counsel to Sheriff Tom Dart. Likewise, police agencies could track crime trends more easily if they had a uniform system for reporting and exchanging information.

“The hope is that we can come together and move that ball forward,” Donovan said.

Boykin said at least one recommendation of the task force, launching a public health study on violence and its effects, started earlier this year when the County Board approved the Cook County Health & Human Services panel to study violence in collaboration with other area hospitals. Boykin said he would be frustrated if other suggestions don’t become reality.

“We’re in a state of emergency” because of surging crime, Boykin said. “But you can’t tell that by the [reaction of] elected officials.”

16-year-old boy, 17-year-old girl charged with murder of Javon Wilson, grandson of Danny Davis, over gym shoes

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 12:23:12 -0600

By JON SEIDEL and MITCH DUDEK
Chicago Sun-Times

Javon WIlson | Facebook

A teenage boy and a teenage girl have been charged with the fatal shooting of Congressman Danny Davis’ 15-year-old grandson Javon Wilson in Englewood Friday evening.

Tariq Harris, 16; and Dijae Banks, 17, were denied bond Saturday. Both were charged as adults with first-degree murder and home invasion in the death of Wilson, who was shot in the neck Friday at his Englewood home.

Cook County Judge James Brown said the pair “pose a grave danger to the community” and showed “a clear and total callous disregard [for the] precious nature of human life.”

Prosecutors said the shooting was a result of a dispute over a pair of borrowed shoes.

In previous weeks, Banks had exchanged clothing with Wilson’s 14-year-old brother, including a pair of shoes she lent him in exchange for a pair of pants, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Bryan Grissman said at a court hearing Sunday.

Banks and Harris arrived about 6:45 p.m. Friday at the back door of the Wilson’s second-story apartment in the 5600 block of South Princeton Avenue with a message: Banks wanted the shoes back.

Wilson’s younger brother told Banks she wasn’t going to get the shoes back until she returned the pants he loaned her.

When Wilson’s brother opened the door slightly, both Harris and Banks forced their way in, at which point Banks pulled a gun and began threatening Wilson’s 16-year-old sister, prosecutors said.

Banks handed the gun to Harris and began to fight the girl.

As they battled, Harris held the gun and slid the safety on and off, Grissman said

When Javon Wilson tried to separate his sister and Banks, Banks punched him with a closed fist. Wilson punched her back, Grissman said.

Banks then yelled at Harris for allowing the siblings to treat her this way.

“Harris then took a step back, raised the firearm and fired it one time, striking the victim in the neck,” Grissman said.

At the time of the shooting, Wilson’s adult uncle and a 19-year-old family friend were in the home, Grissman said.

Harris and Banks turned themselves in Saturday, he said.

Neither Harris nor Banks showed any emotion during the hearing Sunday.

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis speaks with reporters outside his office Sunday. | Jon Seidel/Sun-Times

Congressman Davis said his family is “holding up quite well” after the shooting. Speaking to reporters Sunday afternoon outside of his office at Madison and California before the bond hearing, he said, “I’m not excited about even the charge.

“I have empathy not only for the members of my family whose lives have been disrupted,” Davis said, “but I also have empathy and concern for the families of the individuals who were involved. I’ve never been into this eye-for-an-eye and a tooth-for-a-tooth kind of business. That’s not my personality. That’s not my being.”

Davis said former President Bill Clinton has reached out to him, along with U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk, U.S. Senator-elect Tammy Duckworth and other politicians.

He also responded to former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s tweet that, “The murder of Congressman Danny Davis’ 15 year old grandson in a Chicago home invasion is reminder we need a federal strategy to save lives.”

“All of us would agree that certain kinds of values would dictate behavior,” Davis said, adding, “No matter what your values are, if you don’t have a gun, you cannot shoot.”

“Getting guns out of our lives and off our streets and out of the hands of individuals who should not have them has to become a priority for this country at every level of government,” Davis said.

Javon Wilson, grandson of congressman Danny Davis, shot during argument over gym shoes in his Englewood home

Jeff Mayes — Sat, 19 Nov 2016 12:55:23 -0600

Congressman Danny Davis' grandson was shot to death inside his family home Englewood Friday evening. | Daniel Brown/Sun-Times Wire

Javon Wilson, the teenage grandson of U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, was shot to death over what police called an arugment over sneakers in his Englewood home Friday evening.

The shooting happened about 6:45 p.m. in the 5600 block of South Princeton, according to Chicago Police.

Wilson, 14, was inside his home when two people broke in, started arguing with the boy and then shot him in the head, according to a statement from the congressman.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:32 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

According to Davis, the two people who broke in were a 17-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy who pulled a gun.

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis

“I grieve for my family,” Davis said. “I grieve for the young man who pulled the trigger. I grieve for his family, his parents, his friends, some of whom will never see him again.”

Wilson’s mother had just left to pick up food before the shooting, leaving the boy with his two brothers, ages 8 and 14; his 16-year-old sister, and an uncle, Davis said.

“What could have prevented this tragedy? Better education, more supervision after school activity. Better parenting,” said Davis, who was re-elected earlier this month to his 11th term in Congress.

Police have identified a person of interest in the shooting, CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a Tweet on Saturday morning.

He said the shooting was not random and was not the result of a home invasion. He said there was a "history" between the teens involved, and the shooting stemmed from a dispute about gym shoes.

U.S. Rep. Yvette Clark of New York sent condolences to the family, saying on Facebook she was "heartbroken" by the news.

"Let us rededicate ourselves to ending this senseless gun violence by passing gun control laws that keep firearms away from our families and children." Clark wrote.

Davis said Wilson, a sophomore at Perspectives Charter High School, was a "typical" 14-year-old who liked music and basketball, and "knew all ... the stats of different players."

The Rev. Ira Acree, a South Side anti-violence activist, sent condolences to the family on Facebook, adding, "The genocide continues! We must demand an end to the madness, that has so many living in fear! ...... You can't police self-hatred and you can't legislate love.....The onus is now on us."

No one was in custody Saturday morning as Area South detectives investigate.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire, Chicago Sun-Times and Homicide Watch Chicago