Odell Branch Sr. | Homicide Watch Chicago

WEEK IN REVIEW: Eight killed throughout Chicago

Michael Lansu — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 09:02:30 -0500

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Six men were fatally shot, one man was stabbed to death and a baby had her neck slashed with a saw in slayings throughout Chicago last week.

Four of the slayings happened over the weekend, when at least 24 other people were shot and wounded.

The most recent killings happened when 23-year-old Andre Chatman and 28-year-old Carey Hollis were shot while in a car in the 5800 block of West North Avenue in the Austin community about 3:45 p.m. Sunday, police said.

After the shooting, the wounded driver continued east and crashed about a block away, police said.

Chatham and Hollis, who both lived in the 1000 block of North Mayfield Avenue, died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

In the Portage Park neighborhood, 16-year-old Giovanni Matos was shot in the head in the 5800 block of West Patterson Avenue during an argument with a group in a passing vehicle about 12:50 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

Matos, of the 5500 block of West Henderson Street, died hours later at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center hours later, according to the medical examiner's office.

In the Albany Park neighborhood, 19-year-old Talal Aljohani was found stabbed to death in his apartment in the 5000 block of North Harding Avenue about 4 a.m. Sunday, authorities said. Police called the attack domestic related.

On Monday, police found 26-year-old Larry Hardin Jr. shot on a sidewalk in the 9200 block of South Ada Street in the Washington Heights community about 7:35 p.m., authorities said.

Hardwin, of the 1400 block of East 90th Street, was shot in the head and died at the scene, authorities said.

In the Roseland community, 77-year-old Odell Branch was fatally shot in the 200 block of West 105th Street about 6:30 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

Branch was watching TV with his 5-year-old great-grandson when bullets came through a window, authorities said.

Branch was shot in the head and died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, authorities said. The 5-year-old was shot in the arm and also taken to Christ Medical Center, police said.

Branch’s granddaughter and 2-year-old great-granddaughter were also wounded as they attempted to enter a vehicle when the gunfire erupted, police said.

Nobody has been charged for the killing, but on Sunday police released surveillance video of the potential suspects.

In the Uptown neighborhood, 20-year-old Troy Phelon was shot in the chest in the 900 block of West Agatite Avenue about 2:55 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

Phelon, of the 300 block of South Kedzie Avenue, died at the scene, according to the medical examiner’s office.

The killing started when 52-year-old Manuela Rodriguez killed her 7-month-old granddaughter, Rose Herrera, in the 2800 block of South Avers Avenue in the Little Village neighborhood about 9:30 a.m. Monday, prosecutors said.

Rodriguez allegedly stuffed a sock deep down her 7-month-old granddaughter’s throat, bashed the infant’s head with a metal pipe wrench and used a motorized circular saw to slash the baby’s neck, chest and shoulder, prosecutors said.

Rodriguez, who cut her own throat, allegedly admitted to paramedics and detectives that she viciously attacked Rose Herrera because she wanted her to stop crying while she babysat, prosecutors said. She was charged with first-degree murder and was ordered held without bond.

Overall, the medical examiner’s office has ruled at least 60 Chicago deaths in 2015 a homicide.

Police release video of Roseland shooting that killed 77-year-old Odell Branch

Michael Lansu — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 13:10:06 -0500

BY JORDAN OWEN
Sun-Times Media

Chicago Police released a video Sunday of two suspects in a Roseland shooting that killed 77-year-old Odell Branch Sr. and left three others wounded, including Branch's 5-year-old great-grandson and another 2-year-old boy.

The gunfire erupted about 6:40 p.m. March 9 in the 200 block of West 105th Street, police said. Branch and his 5-year-old great-grandson were inside his home when bullets came through the window, authorities said.

A police source said shooting was an exchange of gunfire was between two rival gangs when a small group on the street opened fire on Branch's teenage great-grandson. Some of the bullets instead went into the home and struck Branch and the child, authorities said.

Rival gang members then fired back at the group and struck a 34-year-old woman and her 2-year-old son as she attempted to place the boy inside a vehicle, the source said. Both were taken to Roseland Community Hospital.

Branch was shot in the head and died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, authorities said.

The 5-year-old was shot in the arm and taken to Christ Medical Center, police said.

Police initially said several people were being questioned in connection with the shooting, but no charges were filed as of Sunday morning. A police source said the family is not cooperating with investigators.

Anyone with information about the suspects in the video is being asked to call Area South detectives at (312) 747-8271.

Odell Branch, 77, killed in Roseland shooting

Michael Lansu — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 21:31:45 -0500

Scene where a 77-year-old man was fatally shot / Photo by Mitch Dudek

BY MITCH DUDEK
Chicago Sun-Times

A 77-year-old man was killed and his granddaughter and two great-grandchildren were wounded Monday evening in a shooting in the Roseland neighborhood.

The shooting occurred about 6:30 p.m. in the 200 block of West 105th Street, police said. The elderly man -- identified by relatives as Odell Branch Sr. -- was with his 5-year-old great-grandson watching TV in a home. Branch and the 5-year-old were injured when bullets came through a window, police said.

A police source said the exchange of gunfire was between two rival gangs. A small group on the street opened fire on the teenage great-grandson of Branch, and some of the rounds went into the home, striking Branch and the child, police said.

Rival gang members then fired back at the group, striking a 34-year-old woman and 2-year-old boy, the source said.

Branch was shot in the head and taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed the death.

The 5-year-old also was taken to Christ Medical Center with a gunshot wound in his arm, police said. His condition had stabilized.

Branch’s granddaughter was shot in the chest and left hand. The 2-year-old was shot in his right shoulder, police said. Chicago Police took the boy to Roseland Community Hospital, where he was listed in serious condition. The woman also was taken to Roseland, but her condition was not disclosed.

As of Monday night, several people were in police custody being questioned in connection with the shooting, which police said was gang-related. A police source said there were several shooters.

Four generations of family members lived at the house, friends and family said.

Branch was a deacon at his local church and worked the grill at church barbecue fundraisers, said his niece, Diane Branch. He had been retired for years, she said.

“He was just a good guy,” longtime neighbor Maurice Hall, 40, a chef, said of Branch. “He’d drive kids from the neighborhood to the YMCA and things like that . . . We’re just in shock, trying to understand why.”

“He was a pillar of the neighborhood,” said neighbor Angela Carter, who works an assisted living home. “There’s shootings around here all the time.”

Earlier Monday, a man was fatally shot in the Uptown neighborhood on the North Side. About 7:35 p.m., another man was shot and killed in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the South Side, police said. Five other people were injured in shootings on the South and West Sides.

Also, a 7-month-old girl died after her throat was cut with a power saw Monday morning in the Little Village neighborhood.

Over the weekend, two people were shot to death and 16 were wounded in shootings.

“It’s like this all the time. It’s bad,” said Betty Poole, a CTA bus driver who lives in the Roseland neighborhood. “Everybody makes promises about how they can change, but we haven’t seen it.”

-- Contributing: Sam Charles