Travis Wright | Homicide Watch Chicago

Godfather: Travis Wright shot dead after helping grandmother with errands

Michael Lansu — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 11:23:38 -0600

Travis Wright / Photo from Instagram

BY KENNY NGUYEN
Homicide Watch Chicago

Travis Wright was always helping others.

From helping coach local sports teams to helping his grandmother run errands, Wright always put others first, his godfather said.

Wright was even taking psychology classes at Kennedy King College in hopes of completing perquisites before transferring to a four-year institution to study clinical health therapy, said Wright's godfather, Eric Harwell.

“He got to see a lot of what I do as a health therapist, and I got a chance to talk to him a lot about it," Harwell said. "After that experience, he also wanted to work in that field."

Wright, 21, will never get that chance after he was fatally shot Oct. 18 outside his home in the 9300 block of South Wentworth Avenue, authorities said.

As a youth, Wright was a “phenomenal” child who loved playing sports -- especially football and track, Harwell said.

“You would think kids would want to make it their career, but he didn’t," Harwell said. "His idea of sports was that he’ll do sports but will only coach because he wanted to be a part of helping kids do better in their lives.

“He was a good kid -- joyful and really good spirited and believed in God. He was not on drugs or in gangs and was never arrested. He was interested in helping make peoples lives better by talking to them and helping them work through their problems.”

Prior to being shot, Wright was visiting friends in Michigan, but returned earlier than expected at the request of his grandmother, Harwell said.

“His grandmother needed to go to the doctor on Friday, and so he drove back from Michigan on a Thursday so that he can drive his grandmother around to all of her appointments," Harwell said.

After dropping his grandmother off in Riverdale, Wright drove back to his Roseland home, Harwell said. That is when gunfire erupted just after midnight and Wright was shot multiple times in the backseat of the car, authorities said.

Wright's mother had been waiting for him to come home and heard the gunfire, Harwell said.

“His car was still running and parked in front of her house," Harwell said. “When she ran down there, she could see he was slumped over in the back seat of the car. She asked him what’s going on and saw blood coming out of his mouth.”

Harwell said he does not know why Wright was in the back seat.

“Who knows what happened. Did he stop at the gas station to get some gas and somebody overpowered him or did he drive home and somebody caught up with him?” Harwell asked.

“The best way to sum it up, Travis was a young man that was trying to live right but he ended up dying wrong,” he said.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.

Comment of the Day: "To move into a new area and someone gun you down isn't [fair]"

Michael Lansu — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 16:02:35 -0500

Travis Wright was fatally shot early Saturday in the Roseland neighborhood. Reader Kisha Jones posted this about him:

My little brother didn't deserve this. He had a great future playing football ahead of him. To move into a new area and someone gun you down isn't far. May he rest in peace

WEEK IN REVIEW: Six killed in Chicago violence

Michael Lansu — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 08:59:55 -0500

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Four people were shot to death, one man was fatally stabbed and another was beaten and strangled last week in Chicago.

Three of the six murder victims were fatally shot over the weekend, when at least 19 other people were wounded by gunfire.

The most recent killing happened when 18-year-old Alexandria Burgos was shot in the head while sitting in an apartment in the 5300 block of West Oakdale Avenue when gunfire erupted outside about 12:35 a.m., authorities said.

Burgos, of an unidentified home address, died less than an hour later at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

On Saturday, 24-year-old Genorel Martin was opening the door to his apartment building in the 6700 block of South Throop Street in West Englewood when a gunman approached about 1 a.m. and fatally shot him near the vestibule, authorities said.

In the Roseland neighborhood, police found 21-year-old Travis L. Wright shot to death in the backseat of a car outside his home in the 9300 block of South Wentworth Avenue about 12:25 a.m. Saturday, authorities said.

On Thursday, prosecutors claim 29-year-old Erika Jett fatally stabbed her boyfriend, 30-year-old Rodney Wilson, during a domestic fight in the 5100 block of West Fulton Street, authorities said.

Wilson, of an unidentified home address, died about an hour later at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the medical examiner's office.

Jett was charged with murder and was ordered held on $500,000 bond.

In the South Shore neighborhood, 25-year-old Alexander D. Smith was shot in the 7500 block of South Colfax Avenue about 2:45 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

Smith, of an unidentified home address, was shot multiple times and was dead at the scene, according to the medical examiner’s office. A 14-year-old boy was also wounded but survived.

The killing started when a janitor found the body of 45-year-old homeless man Joseph Kaman in a garbage bin at Northwestern Business College in in the 4800 block of North Lipps about 11:45 a.m Tuesday, authorities said.

Prosecutors claim Jake Tate, 27, Todd Cooper, 35, and Daniel Morris, 20, beat, strangled and sodomized Kaman because Tate thought he had stolen his cell phone.

Additionally, 55-year-old ArrowStream CEO Steven LaVoie died last Monday after being shot July 31 in the 200 block of South LaSalle, authorities said. Police said recently demoted employee Tony DeFrances shot LaVoie then turned the gun on himself.

Overall, the medical examiner’s office has ruled at least 349 Chicago deaths in 2014 a homicide — including 13 people killed by police.

Chicago Police, which counts murders different by following federal guidelines, have ruled some of those homicides as involuntary manslaughter, justified self-defense or accidents.

Travis Wright found shot to death in Roseland

Michael Lansu — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 17:55:28 -0500

Scene where Travis Wright was shot / Photo from NVP

Travis L. Wright was found shot to death early Saturday near his Roseland home.

Police responding to a call of shots fired found Wright, 21, in the back seat of a black car in the 9300 block of South Wentworth Avenue about 12:25 a.m., authorities said.

Wright, 21, who lived on the block, had been shot in the chest and forearm and died at the scene, authorities said.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire