John Atkins | Homicide Watch Chicago

Comment of the Day: "We really miss him, it will be a year coming soon and it's still very hard!"

Michael Lansu — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 15:58:47 -0500

Popular night club promoter John "Fuzzy" Atkins was fatally shot Aug. 31, 2013. Last month, LaDonna Curry and Audreianna McNeil were charged for their alleged role in the murder, which prosecutors said also involved two unidentified men. Reader "Lowe" posted this about the case:

He was a great man! My family and I are wondering that same thing, we need all 4 to be locked up! We really miss him, it will be a year coming soon and it's still very hard! He would have given his shirt off his back, they didn't have to take him!

LaDonna Curry, Audreianna McNeil charged with murder in 2013 shooting death of promoter John Atkins

Michael Lansu — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 18:23:12 -0500

John Atkins

BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

A popular night club promoter’s lover and her best friend lured him to a Far South Side home where he was robbed and murdered last year, prosecutors said Thursday.

LaDonna Curry and her pal Audreianna McNeil allegedly enlisted two men to help them carry out the deadly plan in the 11700 block of South Hale Avenue, said Assistant State’s Attorney Alexandra Molesky.

After meeting John “Fuzzy” Atkins at the nightclub where he worked on Aug. 31, 2013, the women — both Fenger Academy alums — allegedly convinced him to meet them at the Hale Avenue address.

Their two male cohorts were waiting in the back of the house and when the McNeil and Curry saw them, they left the gangway and got back in their car, leaving 33-year-old Atkins alone, Molesky said.

The women last saw Atkins on his knees with his hands behind his back, Molesky said.

He was discovered by neighbors with a gunshot wound to his head the next morning.

Curry and McNeil had gone to McNeil’s job but then went to McNeil’s house in Gary, Ind., after one of their cohorts called them, Molesky said.

That man also drove to the Gary residence in Atkins’ car, Molesky said.
There in McNeil’s garage, he allegedly burned Atkins’ ID and cell phone.
He also had in his possession a necklace belonging to Atkins, Molesky said.

The two women and the man ended up driving in a vacant lot where they burned Atkins’ car, Molesky said.

Cell phone records indicate that McNeil, 25, and Curry, 29, were in the area of the murder and were in Gary following the crime, Molesky said.

Both women allegedly admitted their role in the murders.

McNeil, of the 11900 block of South Lafayette Avenue, is a shift leader at a Dunkin Donuts and is taking nursing classes at Olive-Harvey College, an assistant public defender said.

Curry is unemployed and is a mother of four. According to police reports, Curry currently lives in the 7600 block of South Essex Avenue.

Judge Peggy Chiampas on Thursday ordered both women held in lieu of $500,000 bond on murder charges.

The two men involved in the murder have not been charged, prosecutors said.

Report: Slain Riverdale man was popular party promoter

John Carpenter — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 15:00:36 -0500

DNAinfo reports that John Atkins was a well-known, popular party promoter. He leaves behind a 6-year-old daughter. Family and friends took to twitter to express their condolences:

Chicago Club Promoter John ‘Fuzzy’ Atkins Found Dead - http://t.co/5VkoZPZt6z RIP FUZZY @Power92Chicago @_kollegekidd

— [Doogie]---Radio Pro (@RadioDoogie) September 12, 2013

Eight dead, at least 25 wounded in holiday weekend gun violence

John Carpenter — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 07:39:35 -0500

Eight people were killed and at least 25 other people were wounded in shootings across the city since Friday night.

The most recent fatal shooting happened about 8 p.m. Monday in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side.

Officers responded to a call of shots fired in the 5700 block of South Princeton Avenue. There they found 27-year-old Fredrick Brown after he had been shot multiple times in an alley, authorities said. Brown, of the 6300 block of South King Drive, was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County where died at 8:30 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Several hours earlier a 16-year-old boy was shot to death in the Roseland neighborhood.

Maurice Knowles and another man were at the boy’s house in the 10500 block of South LaSalle Street when shots were fired about 5:30 p.m., authorities said.

The teen was shot in the chest and taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at 7:22 p.m. authorities said. A bullet grazed the other man who was with Knowles at the time. The man, believed to be in his 20s, declined medical attention and refused to cooperate with investigators, police said.

Earlier Monday afternoon, 21-year-old Jerome Wood was fatally shot in the South Side Woodlawn neighborhood, less than half an hour before another man was wounded by gunfire about half a mile away.

Wood, of the 5200 block of South Wood Street, was shot in the head about 2:10 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene, in the 6600 block of South Rhodes Avenue, at 2:27 p.m., authorities said.

The burst of Labor Day violence in the Woodlawn neighborhood left residents rattled.

“I was in the house asleep when I heard gunshots. It was a lot of them, like maybe 14,” said Keyshia Wilson, 25, who has lived on the block where the man was killed for eight years.

“I came out and walked over and saw the man laying in the yard with a hole in his head, and blood coming out of everywhere,” she said Sunday afternoon. “I can’t believe this happened a couple of doors down. I’m still in shock. I can’t believe it.”

David Westin, 33, who just moved to the block three months ago, lives directly across from the home where the man was killed.

“My family was inside just trying to enjoy our Labor Day when we heard the gunfire,” Westin said. “I told the kids to duck down on the floor. And a half hour later, I came out and saw the police. I just moved here and I’m about to move again. It’s scary. Thank goodness there were no kids playing outside. I don’t even think I want to let my kids go out anymore.”

After that killing, a man was shot twice in the abdomen about 2:35 p.m. in the 6300 block of South King Drive, police said. His age was not immediately known. He was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said.

Employees at a McDonald’s at 6355 S. King Drive said an altercation between a group of young men began inside the restaurant, eventually spilling outside, before the man was shot.

“This happens quite a bit around here. You don’t feel safe, and it feels like it isn’t going to get any better,” said a bystander, India Spears, 24, of Parkway Gardens, a low-income housing development across the street.

Both shootings were down the street from the New Beginnings Church, 6620 S. King Dr. Pastor Corey Brooks was just leaving his church when shooting broke out.

“I was riding home, and police cars just started coming from everywhere going to 66th and Rhodes. I followed, and that’s when I witnessed what was going on,” Brooks said. “When I got there, I was like, ‘I know all these kids,’ so I got out and I walked from 66th and Rhodes back to Parkway Gardens with them. And as we’re walking and talking, somebody else got shot over here, a second one. Not a good day.”

About 11:30 p.m. Sunday, John Wallace, 25, was killed in the Englewood neighborhood. He was shot in the back during an argument about 11:30 p.m. in the 6400 block of South Morgan, authorities said.

Ramaine Hill, 22, died Sunday night, a day after he was shot in the Old Town neighborhood. He was in the 1200 block of North Orleans Street about 1:20 p.m. Saturday when an armed man shot him in the head and fled east on foot, authorities said. Hill, of the 700 block of West Blackhawk Street, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died at 10:08 p.m. Sunday, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Carl Pate, 56, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head in the 12200 block of South Aberdeen Street at 7:41 a.m. Sunday in his West Pullman neighborhood home on the Far South Side. Pate had been shot in the abdomen at 4:40 a.m. last Monday at his home, police said. Both shootings were thought to be related to narcotics.

About 2:45 a.m. Saturday, gunfire killed a 21-year-old man and wounded two others at a party in a Bridgeport apartment on the South Side, police said. Vidal Martinez, 20, of the 1300 block of South 58th Street in Cicero, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and two counts of aggravated battery/discharge of a firearm in connection with the Bridgeport shootings, police said.

Daniel Ortiz, 21, of Monee, was shot in the chest and died at the scene, authorities said. A 22-year-old man was shot in the head and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition, police said. The third man, who is 25, was found with a gunshot wound to the leg in a vehicle that crashed in the 4300 block of South Wentworth a short time later, police said. He was treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and released.

On Saturday morning, John Atkins, 33, was shot multiple times and died in the Morgan Park neighborhood, police said. Atkins was found at 11:19 a.m. in a gangway at the rear of a building in the 11700 block of South Hale, police said.

In addition to those wounded and killed, at least 21 additional people have been injured in shootings since Friday night.

In the most recent nonfatal shooting a 20-year-old man was critically wounded in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

The man was in the 4700 block of North Central Park Avenue when he was shot once in the side about 2 a.m., police said. The man was in critical condition at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, police said.

-- Sun-Times, Sun-Times Media Wire