Miguel Naverrette | Homicide Watch Chicago

Two charged with murder for allegedly fatally shooting 15-year-old Miguel Naverrette with sawed-off shotgun

Michael Lansu — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 16:21:46 -0600

Martin Miranda / Photo from Chicago Police

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Two men have been charged with murder for allegedly gunning down 15-year-old Miguel Naverrette with a sawed-off shotgun in front of two young children last month in the Little Village neighborhood.

Martin Miranda, 19, of the 2500 block of South Trumbull Avenue, and Andres Guerra, 19, of Cicero, were each charged with one count of first-degree murder, police said.

Naverrette, 15, was standing next to the passenger side of a parked car in the 4100 block of West 30th Street when Andres Guerra pulled up in a dark SUV about 4:45 p.m. Jan. 26, Cook County State’s Attorney Jamie Santini said.

Guerra rolled down the window and yelled the gang slogan “two-six,” Santini said.

When Naverrette responded “what,” a gunman in the backseat of the SUV opened a rear door and opened fire with a sawed-off shotgun, Santini said. The gunman was not identified by name during a Wednesday bond hearing for Guerra, but Chicago Police identified the second suspect as Miranda.

Miranda then pumped the shotgun and pointed it at two adults and their 3- and 7-year-old children in the car, authorities said. He then turned the gun back to Naverrette and shot the wounded teen two more times, Santini said.

Naverrette, of the 2800 block of South Karlov Avenue, was shot in the side and abdomen area and died on the scene, authorities said. An autopsy determined he died of multiple gunshot wounds and the death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

After the shooting, the gunman got back inside the SUV and Guerra sped off and struck a pedestrian during the get away, Santini said. The pedestrian required medical attention.

Miranda later bragged about the shooting, authorities said. After police arrested Guerra, witnesses identified him as the driver in a lineup, Santini said.

Guerra admitted driving the gunman to and from the scene, Santini said.

Andres Guerra / Photo from Chicago Police

Miranda appeared before Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. on Thursday wearing a blue Chicago Cubs hooded sweatshirt and khaki pants. He was ordered held without bond and will be back in court Feb. 24. Miranda has a juvenile record and is currently on electronic monitoring for a 2012 aggravated assault, Santini said.

Electronic monitoring records indicate Miranda was not at home when he allegedly shot Naverrette, Santini said.

A public defender said Miranda has a 2-year-old daughter and lives with his sick mother. He is two credits shorts of a diploma from the Latino Youth High School and has been working as a landscaper in the South Lawndale neighborhood.

Guerra appeared before Bourgeois Wednesday and was ordered held on $1 million bond. He will also be back in court Feb. 24.

Guerra graduated from Farragut Career Academy in 2012 and has been attending Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Chicago, a public defender said. He currently works at his uncle’s restaurant in suburban Elmhurst and has previously been employed at downtown restaurant Hub 51.

Police: Murders down 50 percent from January 2013

Michael Lansu — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 15:19:33 -0600

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Chicago had half as many murders in January 2014 compared to the first month of 2013.

Police reported 20 killings in the month, which had 11 days of subzero temperature and was one of the coldest months in recent years.

"The superintendent has said weather is a factor, but its not the only factor," said Chicago Police spokesman Adam Collins. "It neither causes nor prevents crime."

Overall, Chicago had 50 percent fewer killings than it did in January 2013, when 40 people were murdered; 47 percent fewer slayings than January 2012, when 38 people were killed; and a 29 percent decrease from January 2011, when 28 people were murdered, police said.

Nineteen of the 20 people killed were males, and the most common victim was a 19-year-old man. The youngest victim was 15-year-old Miguel Naverrette and the oldest was 44-year-old Edward Caridine.

Eighteen of the 20 murders were shootings. In the other two, Stephanie Serrano was stabbed to death at a Jan. 6 party and Caridine was found beaten to death in his apartment Jan. 22, according autopsies performed by the medical examiner’s office.

Three of the city’s 77 community areas had multiple murders in January. The Chicago Lawn community had the most killings with five. South Lawndale and Chatham also tallied multiple slayings with three and two, respectively.

The decrease in murders came in one of the coldest Januarys in recent years. The average temperature in January 2014 was about 15.5 degrees -- about 8.5 degrees colder than normal, according to the National Weather Service. The average temperature was about 26.5 degrees in January 2013 and about 30 degrees in January 2012 -- nearly three to 6.5 degrees warmer than normal.

Despite the colder temperature, Chicago still tallied a murder on 14 different days in January 2014 -- including one on the coldest day of the month when the average temperature was minus-9 degrees.

The city recorded 90 shootings and 98 shooting victims in January 2014 -- the lowest total in the past four years, police said. In the first month of 2013, the city had 158 shootings and 186 victims.

“After historic lows in crime and violence in 2013, January saw continued progress, yet much more work remains to be done and no one will rest until everyone in Chicago enjoys the same sense of safety," Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said in a statement. "We are continuing to make progress, like the near all-time lows we saw last February and March, but it will become more challenging without better laws that help keep illegal guns out of our communities and punish the criminals who carry them.”

The Cook County medical examiner’s office, which classifies killings different, ruled 23 Chicago deaths homicides. Authorities determined three of the deaths were involuntary manslaughter, which Chicago Police do not count as murders in accordance with the FBI's Unified Crime Reporting System.

In the first manslaughter case, 52-year-old Joeann Smith fatally shot 65-year-old relative Willie Smith at her South Shore home during a Jan. 8 argument about whether the gun would fire, authorities said. She was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm.

In the second incident, a 31-year-old woman was released without being charged for fatally stabbing 38-year-old Danny Melendez Jan. 29 in the 2300 block of North Cicero Avenue, authorities said.

The third justified homicide happened when a Pilsen resident fatally shot alleged burglar Mario Viramontes in the 2000 block of West 21st Street, authorities said. Viramontes, 31, was dead on the scene.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Six males shot to death throughout Chicago

Michael Lansu — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 09:24:15 -0600

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Six males were killed last week in shootings throughout the city, the youngest being a 15-year-old boy.

The two most recent killings happened in the Little Village neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

About 4:50 p.m. Sunday, 15-year-old Miguel Naverrette was shot dead while sitting inside a parked vehicle in the 4100 block of West 30th Street, authorities said.

The gunman approached in a dark SUV, yelled gang slogans and opened fire on the vehicle -- striking Naverrette in the side and abdomen area, authorities said.

Naverette, of the 2800 block of South Karlov Avenue, was shot in the side and abdomen area and died at the scene, authorities said. Police claim the teen had gang affiliations.

On Saturday, Jose Nunez was shot on a sidewalk in the 3800 block of West 26th Street about 2:55 a.m., authorities said.

Nunez, 23, of the 1800 block of North Leavitt Street, was shot in the chin, authorities said.

In the New City community, Elsaleem Mannie-El was killed in a shooting at Rudy's Lounge in the 5100 block of South Union Avenue at 12:52 a.m. Saturday, authorities said. Two other men and two women were also wounded.

The shooting happened after an argument between party-goers and two uninvited men, authorities said. The uninvited men were being escorted to the exit by security when shots were fired near the doorway.

Mannie-El, 35, of the 8100 block of South Drexel Avenue, was shot in the head and died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, authorities said.

On Wednesday, Edward Caridine's roommate found him beaten to death in their home in the 7000 block of South Claremont Avenue about 9:45 a.m., authorities said.

In Englewood, police found Jonathan Johnson shot in the hallway of his apartment building in the 6900 block of South Racine Avenue about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

Johnson, 21, was shot in the abdomen area and died at the scene, authorities said.

The killings started when 19-year-old Alex Anderson was fatally shot in the 4300 block of North Milwaukee Avenue about 10:30 p.m. Monday in the Portage Park neighborhood, authorities said.

Anderson was riding in a vehicle with an acquaintance who shot him in the left arm and abdomen area, authorities said. He got out of the vehicle and walked to his nearby home in the 5000 block of West Cullom Avenue. He died about six hours later at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

Nobody has been charged in any of the killings.

The shootings bring the total number of 2014 homicides to 20. There were 41 killings in January 2013.

Miguel Naverrette, 15, fatally shot in Little Village

Michael Lansu — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 09:02:07 -0600

A 15-year-old boy was shot to death in what police are calling a gang-related shooting Sunday afternoon in the Little Village neighborhood.

Miguel Naverrette was sitting inside a parked vehicle in the 4100 block of West 30th Street when a dark SUV pulled up about 4:50 p.m. and somebody inside opened fire while yelling gang slogans, authorities said.

Naverette, of the 2800 block of South Karlov Avenue, was shot in the side and abdomen area and died at the scene, authorities said.

Police said the teen had gang affiliations.

Nobody has been charged for the killing.

Area Central detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire