Ramal Hicks | Homicide Watch Chicago

Man charged with June 2016 fatal shooting of Ramal 'Pooh' Hicks in Englewood

Jeff Mayes — Sun, 20 Aug 2017 11:30:58 -0500

A man charged with fatally shooting Ramal "Pooh" Hicks last year just after a Father's Day picnic in the South Side Englewood neighborhood has been ordered held on a $1 million bond.

Lamarr J. Isaac | Chicago Police

Lamarr J. Isaac, 34, faces one count of first-degree murder, according to Chicago Police.

Hicks had attended his family’s annual Father’s Day picnic the day before. After leaving the gathering, he was distributing leftover food to a group of homeless people at the corner of 69th and Ashland when two men approached him about midnight.

About 12:45 a.m. on June 20, 2016, Isaac shot the 34-year-old Hicks in the lower back and chest in the 1500 block of West 69th Street, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Hicks was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 3:55 a.m., authorities said. He lived in the South Side Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

Ramal 'Pooh' Hicks | family photo

About 8:15 p.m. Thursday, officers spotted Isaac, who was wanted for the shooting, in the passenger seat of a vehicle and he was arrested, police said.

Isaac, a Pilsen resident, was ordered held on a $1 million bond at the Cook County Jail, according to Cook County sheriff’s records. He is next scheduled to appear in court Monday.

Hicks, a beloved member of the Englewood community, was known as much for his cooking skills, his comedic nature and his outgoing personality.

Hicks was also talented tattoo artist and interior handyman, family members said. He designed and tattooed many of his family members and friends in the neighborhood.

He was called "Pooh" because Winnie the Pooh was his favorite character.

Hicks left behind a 4-year-old son.

--Sun-Times Wire and Homicide Watch Chicago

Englewood can't understand death of Ramal 'Pooh' Hicks, best known for his sense of humor and cooking skills

Tyler Holmes — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 12:00:41 -0500

Ramal Hicks | photo provided

By TYLER HOLMES
Homicide Watch Chicago

Whenever Ramal Hicks arrived at a family event, it was understood that he would be the one standing behind the grill. A beloved member of the Englewood community, he was known as much for his cooking skills as comedic nature and outgoing personality.

“My brother was a jokester – he was the jokester of the family,” said Terrance Hicks Jr., Ramal Hicks's eldest brother. “The day before [the shooting] happened, we were having a picnic and he had a water fight with my daughter. That’s just the kind of guy he was.”

The 34-year-old was shot in the lower back and chest on June 20 around 12:45 a.m. in the 1500 block of West 69^th Street, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was pronounced dead at 3:55 a.m at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Family and friends in the surrounding area were shocked and saddened by the death of the man they called "Pooh" because Winnie the Pooh was his favorite cartoon character.

Family and friends sign posters during a candlelight vigil for Ramal "Pooh" Hicks on June 21, the day after he was fatally shot in Englewood. | photo provided

“Even when we didn’t want to joke, he was always making us laugh,” said Ronnesia Branch, Ramal Hicks’ cousin. “I lost my mom two years ago and he always had to make us smile even when we were grieving.”

Hicks was also talented tattoo artist and interior handyman. He designed and tattooed many of his family members and friends in the neighborhood.

“He had been drawing since he was 6 or 7 years old,” Hicks Jr. said. “He followed in my father’s footsteps. He was very good with his hands.”

A candlelight vigil was conducted June 22 at 1500 West 69th St., where the shooting took place. According to his brother, Hicks’ blood was still visible on the street.

Ramal Hicks had attended his family’s annual Father’s Day picnic the day before. After leaving the gathering, he was distributing leftover food to a group of homeless people at the corner of 69th and Ashland when two men approached him about midnight.

“From what I heard, he had a confrontation with one of the men. They tried to double-team him,” Hicks Jr. said. “They left and came back with two other guys and a young lady, and we feel the young lady had the gun. We believe it was premeditated.”

Hicks, left, with family at annual Father's Day picnic | photo provided

The men involved have been a problem in the neighborhood for about a year, according to Hicks Jr.

“I grew up on the South Side. I fought tooth and nail to get out and to stay in school,” he said. “After my daughter graduates from 8th grade, I’m thinking about leaving Chicago altogether.”

“We really want the guns to get put down – we want the violence to stop in Chicago, and especially in Englewood,” Branch said. “We deserve justice for this. We were with him on Father’s Day and he died passing out food.

“What he didn’t have to spare, he still gave.”

Hicks is survived by a 4-year-old son. Services are scheduled for July 1.

WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 15 killed in violence in Chicago, pushing the year's homicide total to more than 300

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 16:00:05 -0500

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Police tape at an armored car robbery. | Brian Jackson~Sun-Times

At least 14 people died from violence in Chicago last week, including a woman who was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend on a crowded CTA train on the South Side, and the weekend was especially deadly, with seven fatal shootings reported between Friday night and Sunday.

The deadly week brought the Chicago murder total to at least 312 for the year, according to unofficial statistics compiled by the Chicago Sun-Times Wire.

The most shocking crime of the week came as a man and woman were arguing on a crowded CTA Red Line train Thursday afternoon and the man suddenly stabbed his ex-girlfriend repeatedly, killing her, police said. Jessica Renee Hampton, 25, was stabbed multiple times on a southbound train near the 47th Street station in Greater Grand Crossing at 12:33 p.m., authorities said. Hampton, who lived in the 6600 block of South Laflin, was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy showed she died of a stab wound to the neck.

Passengers on the train called 911 to report the stabbing, and an officer was already near the 47th Street Red Line stop as the train pulled up, police said. The suspect stepped off the train, saw the officer and surrendered. On Saturday, bond was denied for 29-year-old Arthur S. Jones, who is charged with first-degree murder for the attack.

The week's final homicide victim was a 67-year-old man who died Sunday night, after he and two other men were shot Saturday evening in the Englewood neighborhood. The group was congregating on a corner in the 700 block of West 66th Street about 6:45 p.m. Saturday when someone came out of an alley, fired shots and ran off northbound, according to police.
Lonnie King, 67, was shot in the back and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 9:43 p.m. Sunday, according to authorities. A 50-year-old man was also taken to Stroger Hospital with two gunshot wounds to the buttocks and his condition was stabilized. A 30-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the left hand and took himself to St. Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center, where he was in good condition, police said.
Early Sunday, a man was shot to death in the Austin neighborhood. Officers responding to a call of shots fired at 5:08 a.m. in the 900 block of North Massasoit found 41-year-old Frederick Johnson in the driver seat of a car with two gunshot wounds to the chest, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was dead at the scene.
Selton Ellis was shot just 30 minutes earlier in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood. Ellis, 30, was standing near the front counter of a gas station near 72nd and Chicago at 4:27 a.m. when a male suspect entered and shot him multiple times, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died.
About three hours earlier, a 55-year-old man who was killed in an East Garfield Park neighborhood shooting that also left two women wounded. The attack happened about 1:30 a.m. Sunday in the 700 block of North Ridgeway, where Wondale Collier was shot twice in the chest and a 35-year-old woman was shot in the leg, according to authorities.
Collier was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The woman’s condition was stabilized at Stroger Hospital, police said. Another woman, 19, later showed up at a hospital with an ankle wound, police said. She was in good condition.
A 20-year-old man was shot to death Saturday evening in the Gage Park neighborhood. Trayvon Wilson was washing his car about 7:15 p.m. in an alley in the 5800 block of South Maplewood when someone came up to him and fired shots, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Wilson, who lived on the same block, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the back, and died 90 minutes later at Stroger Hospital.
A 26-year-old man was shot to death late Friday in Auburn Gresham. Reginald L. Turner of the 7700 block of South Peoria was on the street in the 7700 block of South Sangamon at 10 p.m. when a man shot him in the head, according to authorities. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Brandon J. Nolls, an aspiring rapper from southwest suburban Joliet who performed as PG12, was shot to death Friday evening in Humboldt Park. Officers responding about 9 p.m. to a call of a person shot in the 1000 block of North Harding found the 24-year-old lying on the ground, according to authorities. Nolls was shot in the left shoulder and back, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 90 minutes later.
A 25-year-old man was fatally shot Friday afternoon while playing dice in Back of the Yards. Jeremy Clark was playing dice about 4:30 p.m. on the sidewalk in the 5000 block of South Elizabeth when a male suspect walked up, pulled a gun and opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. The shooter then ran away. Clark was shot in the neck, and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A man charged with fatally shooting one man and wounding another last week in West Englewood is being held without bond. Camron Howard, 18, is charged with one count each of murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to police.
Two men, ages 28 and 38, were outside about 10:30 p.m. Thursday in the 6400 block of South Damen when someone walked up with a gun and started shooting, police said. The younger man, identified as 28-year-old Eric Burgin, was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at 10:56 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner's office. He lived on the same block where the shooting happened. The older man was shot in the leg and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition was stabilized.
A 16-year-old boy died after he was shot Thursday night in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. Officers found Trevell Parker about 10 p.m. in the 4400 block of West Wilcox with gunshot wounds to the head and abdomen, police and the medical examiner's office said. Parker, who lived in the 1800 block of South Kedzie, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died.
A man was killed and a woman wounded in an Auburn Gresham neighborhood shooting early Wednesday. The pair was sitting on a porch about 12:35 p.m. in the 8800 block of South Ada when a male suspect walked out of a gangway nearby and fired shots, according to police.
Stanley Boston, 35, who lived on the block, was shot in the neck and foot, and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead. The woman, 22, suffered a graze wound to the foot.
Two teenagers are facing charges after 18-year-old Amari Catchings was killed in a crash as the group was fleeing police in a stolen vehicle Tuesday afternoon in Bronzeville. Officers investigating a call of a person with a gun walked up to a vehicle in the 4200 block of South State about 4:50 p.m., according to police. The vehicle then took off and crashed into another vehicle, which was carrying a 29-year-old woman and a 6-year-old boy. The woman and boy were taken to Stroger in good condition, police said.
Catchings, riding in the stolen vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the stolen vehicle, 19-year-old Dominic Gipson, was taken to Stroger Hospital, according to police. Gipson was charged Thursday with felony counts of reckless homicide, aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle, and aggravated fleeing, police said. Another passenger in the stolen vehicle, a 17-year-old boy, was also charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and criminal trespass to a vehicle.

The woman and boy in the other car were taken to Stroger in good condition, police said.
Eugene Singleton was shot to death early Monday in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood. Officers responding about 1:30 a.m. to a call of a person shot in the 7300 block of South University found the 22-year-old lying in the gangway, according to authorities. Singleton was shot in the head and back, and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
In the week's first homicide, Ramal Hicks was shot multiple times early Monday in Englewood. The 34-year-old was shot in the lower back and chest about 12:45 a.m. in the 1500 block of West 69th Street, according to authorities. Hicks was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead about three hours later.

Man fatally shot in Englewood identified as 34-year-old Ramal Hicks

Jeff Mayes — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 11:06:20 -0500

Ramal Hicks | courtesy of Ronniesia Branch

Ramal Hicks, who was shot early Monday in the Englewood neighborhood, died at a hospital about three hours later.

The 34-year-old Hicks was shot in the lower back and chest about 12:45 a.m. in the 1500 block of West 69th Street, 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 was pronounced dead at 3:55 a.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Hicks lived in the 7700 block of South May.

An autopsy found he died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire