Justin T. Bowman | Homicide Watch Chicago

Aspiring writer/rapper Justin Bowman was a 'great father' who told 'his life and his story through the pen'

Elizabeth Czapski — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 16:10:28 -0600

By ELIZABETH CZAPSKI
Homicide Watch Chicago

When Alexandria Batie looks at her three-year-old son, she sees his father, Justin T. Bowman. “His son is the spitting image of him,” said Batie, Bowman’s fiancée. Her son also shares Bowman’s childhood love of Spider-Man.

Alexandria Batie and Justin Bowman/Family photo

Bowman was shot to death on April 24, 2016, in the Logan Square neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

Police were called to a report of gunshots at 6:23 p.m. in the 3600 block of West Schubert, and found the 25-year-old lying on a sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Bowman was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:07 p.m., authorities said. He lived not far away in the same neighborhood.

Alfredo Ramos was charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting Bowman, and is being held in the Cook County Jail without bond. His next court appearance is Feb. 24, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.

Bowman was walking with a group about 6:15 p.m. when Ramos got out of a car and opened fire, hitting Bowman in the chest, authorities allege.

Bowman was wearing headphones and was not wearing his glasses, so he would not have known right away that someone was shooting, Batie and his mother, Wanda Bowman, said. The women said they did not know who Ramos was before the shooting.

Some of Bowman’s friends had gang ties, Batie said, but Bowman did not.

He attended Carl Schurz High School, and received a degree in child psychology from Lake Land College.

Justin Bowman with his son Elijah Tyree Bowman, third photo from left/Family photos

Batie met Bowman, also known as “True” or “Jroc,” 11 years ago on her back porch. They both lived in Logan Square their entire lives, and whenever either of them moved, they would be within walking distance of the other’s house, Batie said. The couple had a son, Elijah, and a daughter, Zion, with whom Batie was pregnant when Bowman was killed. They had plans to get married.

“He was a great father,” Batie said. He liked to gather his other friends and their children and all go to the park, “[doing] backflips over them, [playing] with them, [chasing] them through the park and field and ... [taking] them to the store,” she said. If Bowman bought his son something while the other kids were there, he made sure to get them something, too.

“All [Justin] ever talked about was being with his son,” Wanda Bowman said. He talked to Elijah constantly, saying, “‘He understands me, Momma, you just don’t know',” she said.

Justin Bowman with Elijah.

Bowman was a prolific writer and aspiring rapper, filling journal after journal with songs inspired by the events of his life, including duets to sing with Batie.

He also wrote poetry and was working on an “urban novel,” Batie said. The book had to do with “stuff that ... young adults our age go through. With love, relationships, family ties, friends, enemies, all that.”

“He would tell his life and his story through the pen,” Batie said.

“[Ramos] took a father, a friend—like that was my best friend. He really messed us up. My son still asks for him every single day, and I gotta explain to him, he’s in heaven, and my son cries, because he’s like,...'How come he doesn’t come see me, he doesn’t love me no more?'”

Bond denied for 24-year-old man charged with fatal shooting of Justin Bowman in April in Logan Square

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 11:47:06 -0600

Alfredo Ramos | Chicago Police

A man has been ordered held without after being charged with the April 24 murder of Justin T. Bowman in the Logan Square neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

Bond was denied Friday for 24-year-old Alfredo Ramos, charged with first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of the 25-year-old Bowman, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County sheriff’s office.

Bowman was walking with a group about 6:15 p.m. when Ramos got out of a car and opened fire, hitting Bowman in the chest, authorities allege.

Justin Bowman | Facebook

Bowman was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he died at 7:07 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The attack happened a half-mile from his home in the 3900 block of West Diversey.

Ramos is being held in the Cook County Jail. and his next court appearance is Dec. 28, according to the sheriff's office.

Bowman, a graduate of Schurz High School, had been attending Lake Land College in downstate Mattoon.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 12 die in Chicago violence, including 5 in series of mass shootings on South Side

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 16:00:10 -0500

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

An explosion of gun violence over the weekend left at least six people and dead and 38 more wounded across the city, bringing the week's total to at least 12 people dead in Chicago violence.

The week's death toll included five people killed and 12 wounded in a series of five mass shootings on the South Side.

The violent weekend culminated with a mass shooting Sunday night in West Englewood in which someone got out a vehicle and fired shots at a group of people sitting outside on a front porch, according to Chicago Police.

When the shooting stopped about 11:10 p.m., Devin Hamb and Davon Barrett were dead, and three other people wounded. The group was sitting on a front porch in the 2000 block of West 68th Place about 11:10 p.m. when someone got out of a vehicle and opened fire, according to police.

Hamb, 27, was shot in the chest and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 11:55 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 500 block of East 72nd Street.

Barrett, 38, was shot in the neck, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:33 a.m. Monday, according to the medical examiner’s office. He lived on the same block where the shooting happened.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed the fatalities, but had not released the victims' names as of Monday afternoon, though family members identified the younger man as Devin Hamb.

A 27-year-old man shot in the back was taken Christ Medical Center; 17-year-old boy shot in the left leg was taken to St. Bernard Hospital; and a 23-year-old woman shot in the left leg was taken to Stroger Hospital. All of their conditions were stabilized, police said.

A few hours earlier, 25-year-old Justin T. Bowman was shot to death in Logan Square. Officers responding to a call of shots fired at 6:23 p.m. in the 3600 block of West Schubert found him lying on a sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Bowman was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:07 p.m., authorities said. He lived in the 3900 block of West Diversey.

Early Sunday morning, a man was shot to death in Lawndale. Officers responding to a call of shots fired in the 3200 block of West Douglas Boulevard about 12:25 a.m. found 24-year-old Darrell Wilson unresponsive inside a parked vehicle, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Wilson had been shot in the head and was dead at the scene, authorities said. He lived in the 100 block of South Central Avenue.

A woman was killed and two men injured in a shooting Saturday night in the Roseland neighborhood. The group was getting out of a car about 9 p.m. in the 11400 block of South Stewart when they heard gunfire and were hit, according to police.

They drove to Roseland Community Hospital, where 23-year-old Tiara M. Parks was pronounced dead at 9:14 p.m. with a gunshot wound to the head, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. She lived in the 9200 block of South Bishop.

A 24-year-old man was shot in the lower back; and a 27-year-old man was shot in the left leg. Both of their conditions were stabilized, police said.

Early Saturday morning, a man was gunned down in North Lawndale. Gino Carrasco, 22, was walking out of a store in the 3200 block of West 16th Street at 1:14 a.m. when someone got out of a vehicle and fired shots, police and the medical examiner’s office said.

Carrasco suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was taken to Saint Anthony Hospital, then transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:30 a.m., authorities said. He lived in the 5100 block of South Sawyer.

A man died Friday morning after he was shot Thursday night in the West Side Austin neighborhood. Kenneth Allen, 53, was in the 1600 block of North Luna about 8:15 p.m. when he heard gunfire and felt pain, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Allen, who lived in the 1000 block of North Merrimac, was taken to Stroger Hospital with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at 6:17 a.m. Friday.

Jason Napoles was killed and three others wounded in another mass shooting Tuesday night in the Gage Park neighborhood. The 18-year-old was sitting in parked vehicle with three other men in the 2700 block of West 53rd Street at 11:08 p.m. when a red minivan pulled up and someone inside opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Napoles was shot in the upper chest and died at Holy Cross Hospital, authorities said. He lived in the 2500 block of South Christiana Avenue.

Another 18-year-old man was shot in the back and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said. A third 18-year-old was shot in the back; and a 19-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds to both arms and a graze wound to the head, police said. They were both taken to Stroger Hospital, where their conditions were stabilized.

A 31-year-old woman has been charged with stabbing her husband to death early Tuesday in East Chatham.

Michael Williams Jr., 37, was stabbed in the neck during a fight with his wife at 2:35 a.m. in their home in the 8000 block of South Ingleside, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died at 10:01 a.m., authorities said.
Jamara L. Cannon was charged with one count of first-degree murder, police said early Thursday.

Another mass shooting, also on Tuesday, took the life of Damond A. Dawson and left four other people injured when someone opened fire on a group filming a rap video early Tuesday in a Gresham neighborhood park.

The group was filming in Foster Park in the 1400 block of West 84th Street at 2:19 a.m. when someone approached and started shooting, police said. The shooter then ran away.

Dawson, 23, was shot in the back of the head and was dead at the scene, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 8400 block of South Justine Street.

A 19-year-old woman was shot twice in the groin and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she was listed in serious condition, police said.

Three more people injured in the shooting later showed up at Christ Medical Center, Gaines said. A 20-year-old man was shot nine times in the leg and shoulder; a 25-year-old man suffered a graze wound to the leg; and an 18-year-old man suffered a graze wound to the back. Their conditions were all stabilized.

Two people were found dead in alleys last week, and while the medical examiner's office had not released their identities as of Monday afternoon, police were conducting homicide investigations.

Kimberly Schnackenberg, 42, was found about 1:30 a.m. April 22 in an alley in the 2000 block of West 51st Street in Back of the Yards, according to police and the medical examiner's office.

Schnackenberg, who lived on the same block, was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy found she died of multiple blunt force injuries to the head.

Justin Bowman found with fatal gunshot wound in Logan Square

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 09:01:57 -0500

Justin T. Bowman was shot to death Sunday evening in the Logan Square neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

Officers responding to a call of shots fired at 6:23 p.m. in the 3600 block of West Schubert found the 25-year-old lying on a sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Bowman was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:07 p.m., authorities said. He lived in the 3900 block of West Diversey.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire