Malik McNeese | Homicide Watch Chicago

Family members say shooting stole a bright future from 'happy-go-lucky' Stevie Jefferson

Elizabeth Czapski — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 09:29:52 -0600

By ELIZABETH CZAPSKI
Homicide Watch Chicago

On a summer day during their sophomore year of high school, Kayla Taylor and her boyfriend, Stevie Jefferson, sat down to talk about their future.

Stevie Jefferson / Family photo

They envisioned a life together in Virginia after graduation, where they wanted to go to college, get good jobs, get married and have kids.

Jefferson and Taylor met during their freshman year at After School Matters, where they “wrote poetry, performed for young kids and went on college field trips,” Taylor said. Their favorite places to go together were Millennium Park and the beach.

A senior at Ombudsman High School, the 17-year-old Jefferson was scheduled to graduate in June, his mother, Latina Sanders Stuckey, said.

He would never get the chance.

On Jan. 3, Jefferson was babysitting his three younger siblings when he left to trade a video game with a friend, Sanders Stuckey said. He and another boy, Malik McNeese, 16, were on a sidewalk about noon in the 3400 block of West Fulton in East Garfield Park when a black SUV pulled up and someone inside opened fire, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

McNeese was hit in the head, back and arm, and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Jefferson, of the 3200 block of West Maple, was shot in the head and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead in the early hours of Jan. 4, authorities said.

A 65-year-old woman who lives nearby was hit in the leg when a bullet flew into her home. She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, police said.

No one is in custody for the shooting.

Jefferson, also known as “Poose” or “Lil Steze,” is remembered by loved ones as happy-go-lucky, “goofy,” caring and academically driven.

He worked part-time at Mariano’s. And he loved dancing, basketball, laughing and playing jokes on his younger siblings and cousins, and was “an all-around great kid,” his aunt, Sheree Jones, said.

She recalled how, when visiting relatives, a young Stevie would hide from his cousins. Once they noticed he was missing, he would jump out and scare them. “We’d all be laughing,” Jones said.

Stevie Jefferson, right, performing in a play at After School Matters with his cousin Detauris Jones, left / Family photo

Jefferson's death has hit his loved ones hard. "It hurts really bad every single moment of my life," Jones said.

Family members plan to release balloons, have a candlelight vigil and celebrate Jefferson’s birthday on Feb. 20.

“Stevie was taken from us so suddenly. We didn’t know that morning when we woke up our lives were gonna be changed so drastically,” Jones said.

“If these people with these guns could actually get to know some of the people that they are hurting, not just the victims, but the victims’ families, friends and loved ones, maybe they would think twice before they decide to pull the trigger.”

WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 8 die from violence in Chicago, including two teenage boys, and two brothers

Jeff Mayes — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 12:30:16 -0600

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least eight people were killed in Chicago violence last week, including two brothers and a pair of teenage boys, all of whom died after a pair of shootings on the West Side.

The boys were killed in a drive-by shooting that also left a 65-year-old woman was wounded Tuesday afternoon in the East Garfield Park neighborhood.

Sixteen-year-old Malik McNeese and a 17-year-old Stevie Jefferson were on a sidewalk about noon in the 3400 block of West Fulton when a black SUV pulled up. Someone in the vehicle opened fire, hitting the younger boy in the head, back and arm; and the older boy in the head, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

McNeese was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead; while Jefferson died after being taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, authorities said.

A stray bullet went through the front door of a home on the block, hitting the 65-year-old woman in the leg. She was taken to Mount Sinai in good condition, police said.

About 12 hours later, the brothers were fatally shot in the Homan Square neighborhood Tuesday night. Officers responding at 11:13 p.m. to a call of shots fired in the 3200 block of West Lexington found the pair lying in the street, police said.

Simmieon McGruder, 23, was shot in the head and left arm, and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:52 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. His brother, 25-year-old Simmie McGruder, suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and died at Mount Sinai at 5:13 a.m. the next morning.
A 31-year-old man who worked as finance manager at Chicago Tech Academy High School was found shot to death Saturday morning just a block away from the school in the University Village neighborhood.
Jason "Jay" Goodfriend was found when officers responded to a report of a man slumped over inside a running vehicle about 9:50 a.m. in the 1300 block of West Hastings, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Goodfriend had suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:07 a.m., authorities said.
A 33-year-old man died Friday, nearly two weeks after being wounded in a mass shooting Christmas night in the East Chatham neighborhood that left another pair of brothers dead. Three men were killed and four others wounded in the shooting, which happened about 9:20 p.m. on Dec. 25, police said.
A group of people were gathered on the porch of a home in the 8600 block of South Maryland for a holiday party when someone wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt walked out from an alley and opened fire before running away.

Steven Freeman, of the 7600 block of South Normal, was shot in the body and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 1:53 a.m. Friday, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Also killed in that shooting were James Gill, 18, who was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene; and his brother Roy Gill III, 21, who was shot multiple times and died at Christ Medical Center, authorities said. A 35-year-old man suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was also taken to Christ, where he was listed in critical condition, police said. A 27-year-old man and 21-year-old woman both suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and were taken to Stroger, where their conditions were stabilized. A 39-year-old man shot in the foot later and was in good condition, police said.
A 36-year-old man was shot to death late Thursday in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side. Someone walked up to Dante J. Swanson about 11:15 p.m. as he sat in the driver’s seat of a car parked in the 800 block of East 46th Street, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. The suspect fired repeatedly, striking Swanson several times across the body. He was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Swanson worked as a delivery driver for FedEx, and had just ended a work shift when he was shot.
The week's first homicide occurred when an off-duty Chicago Police officer fatally shot a man on the Northwest Side after an argument Monday morning, officials said. The medical examiner’s office identified the slain man as 38-year-old Jose Nieves, who was shot several times though did not have a weapon, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said the 57-year-old cop, assigned to the mass transit unit, does not live in the area but knew the person he shot from another “confrontation a few weeks ago.”

An “altercation” between the men escalated about 9:30 a.m. in front of a Nieves' residence in the 2500 block of North Lowell, and the officer shot him multiple times, according to a police statement. Nieves was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he died less than an hour later.

The police department and Independent Police Review Authority have opened simultaneous investigations into the shooting. The department announced Tuesday that the officer has been stripped of his police powers.

Teens Malik McNeese and Stevie Jefferson killed in East Garfield Park; woman injured by stray bullet in her home

Jeff Mayes — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 17:55:15 -0600

Two teenage boys--Malik McNeese and Stevie Jefferson were shot to death outside a home in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side Tuesday afternoon, and a stray bullet also injured a woman inside her home.

McNeese, 16, and Jefferson, 17, were on a sidewalk about noon in the 3400 block of West Fulton, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

That's when a black SUV pulled up and someone inside opened fire, hitting the younger boy in the head, back and arm; and the older boy in the head, according to police.

McNeese, of the 3200 block of West Walnut, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:20 p.m., authorities said.

Jefferson, of the 3200 block of West Maple, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:41 a.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

A stray bullet also smashed through the front door of a home on the block, hitting a 65-year-old woman in the leg. She was taken to Mount Sinai in good condition, police said.

McNeese was a sophomore at Urban Prep Academy’s West Campus, located in the University Village neighborhood, according to an email sent by Urban Prep CEO Tim King to the school community. He is the fifth student or alumnus of Urban Prep to be killed since the start of 2016, and the second in less than a month.

On Facebook, a woman who said she is McNeese’s mother wrote that her son “was no gang member,” but befriended the “wrong people.” She described McNeese as “respectful, honest, happy.”

King said McNeese’s mother asked that her son be buried in his school uniform.

“Let our grief be tempered by the knowledge that the young men who graduate from Urban Prep, with a diploma in one hand and a college admissions letter in the other, are up to the challenge of changing our world for good,” King said.

“We are humbled by that request and we will honor it; just as we honor Malik McNeese, a child robbed of his life and future.”

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire