WEEK IN REVIEW: Three men were fatally shot last week, lowest homicide total since first week of January

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 16:00:44 -0600

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-times Wire

After a stretch of more than three days during which there were no homicides reported in the city, the week ended with three men fatally shot.

Two of them died over a violent weekend, during which at least 30 others were wounded in gunfire across the city.

The three fatalities marked the lowest homicide total for one week since two people were killed in the first week of the year, when two men were fatally shot during the week ending Jan. 4, marking the final homicide of 2014 and the first of this year.

The latest homicide in the city happened Sunday morning in the South Side Englewood neighborhood.

Police found 26-year-old Andre D. Donner Jr. with a gunshot wound to the head about 10 a.m. in the 7200 block of South May, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died within the hour.

The other fatal shooting, Friday night in the South Side Washington Heights neighborhood, claimed the life of popular Simeon graduate Joseph Graves, who was home on Christmas break from his sophomore year at Southern Illinois University.

About 10:30 p.m., crews found the 19-year-old unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the back of the head in the 700 block of West 92nd Street, authorities said.

Graves, who lived in the 8400 block of South Green, was dead at the scene.

The week's first homicide was Kenneth Turner, who was critically wounded in a shooting Tuesday in Austin, and died a day later at a hospital.

The 28-year-old Turner was on the sidewalk in the 300 block of South Cicero just before 8 a.m. Dec. 8 when he was approached by a man wearing black clothing, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

The suspect fired multiple shots, then ran northbound through an alley, police said.

Turner, of the 3100 block of West Warren Boulevard, was shot in the head and was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital where he died at 3:44 p.m. Dec. 9, authorities said.

NIU sophomore Joseph Graves found fatally shot in vehicle in Washington Heights

Jeff Mayes — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 14:44:07 -0600

Nineteen-year-old Northern Illinois University student Joseph Graves was fatally shot Friday night in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the South Side.

Joseph Graves

About 10:30 p.m., the 19-year-old Graves was found unresponsive inside a car with a gunshot wound to the back of the head in the 700 block of West 92nd Street, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Graves, who lived in the 8400 block of South Green, was dead at the scene, authorities said.

He was a sophomore business major at NIU who graduated from Simeon Career Academy and was home on break when he was shot.

“He was a great student,” said Dr. Sheldon House, principal of Simeon. “He was a member of the bowling team. He was just a great kid.”

House said Graves has a younger brother who currently attends Simeon.

“The news hurt because I see his brother every day and those two were jokesters. It hurts to hear the violence in the city and it hurts even more when it happens to a great person who is doing his best who is home from college just for a breather,” House said.

House said he spoke with Graves’ mother shortly after her son’s death.

“She told me she would be strong and she would pray.”

A reward fund for information on the shooting has risen to more than $5,000.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire and Chicago Sun-Times

Joseph Graves | Homicide Watch Chicago

WEEK IN REVIEW: Three men were fatally shot last week, lowest homicide total since first week of January

NIU sophomore Joseph Graves found fatally shot in vehicle in Washington Heights