Yvonne Nelson | Homicide Watch Chicago

16-year-old boy charged with murder of 311 operator Yvonne Nelson outside Bronzeville Starbucks

Jeff Mayes — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 11:50:56 -0500

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested for the death of 311 operator Yvonne Nelson, shot last month outside a Starbucks near police headquarters at 35th and State.

Yvonne Nelson | Facebook

The boy was arrested by Chicago police and the U.S. Marshals Service acting on a warrant issued last month, police said. The charges first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm.

The boy was 15 on May 20, when the murder was committed, and will initially appear in juvenile court. Authorities are trying to have him charged as an adult.

The boy has a criminal history, including arrests for several armed robberies, and was on probation at the time of the shooting, police said.

Police said Nelson was leaving Starbucks after buying coffee, when the teen got out of a car a block away and started chasing a man, a documented gang member, down the street with a gun.

At the corner of 36th and State streets, the man started walking north and the teen fired eight shots, according to police.

Nelson, 49, was not the intended target, police said, but she suffered a gunshot wound to the chest about 3:52 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Nelson, of the 4900 block of South Vincennes, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died at 4:33 p.m., authorities said.

The Bronzeville resident had been a communications operator for 311 City Services since 2002, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 14 people died from violence, including 311 operator and man killed over headphones

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 23 May 2016 16:00:54 -0500

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 13 people were killed in violence in Chicago last week, and a 14th died two months after he was shot. The dead included a 311 operator who was not the intended target of the bullet that killed her just blocks from police headquarter; and a Moroccan man fatally shot in an argument over headphones.

The city employee was the innocent victim of errant gunfire in a gang-related shooting two blocks away from the Chicago Police Departments’s Bronzeville headquarters Friday afternoon, police said.

At 3:52 p.m., a 19-year-old man flagged down officers in the 3500 block of South State saying he had been shot. That's when officers found 49-year-old Yvonne Nelson on a sidewalk nearby with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Nelson, of the 4900 block of South Vincennes, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died at 4:33 p.m., authorities said. She had been a communications operator for 311 City Services since 2002.

The man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with gunshot wounds to the hand and buttocks. Police said he was a documented gang member and the intended target of the shooting.

The most recent killing was a 20-year-old man shot and killed Sunday afternoon in the Park Manor neighborhood on the South Side. Gregory Carr was walking down the street in the 6900 block of South Wabash about 4 p.m. when a dark SUV pulled up and someone inside opened fire, hitting him in upper body, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Carr, who lived in the 0–100 block of East 69th Street, was shot in the upper body and died less than an hour later at Stroger Hospital.

David Lee Easley was shot to death Saturday night in Englewood. Easley, 26, was walking in the 7000 block of South Carpenter about 7:40 p.m. when two gunmen walked out of a gangway and opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Easley, of the 14700 block of Beachview Terrace in southwest suburban Evergreen Park, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at 8:04 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. An autopsy found he died of a gunshot wound to the back.

A south suburban man was shot to death early Saturday in the Chatham neighborhood. Officers responding to a call of a person shot found 35-year-old Michael Wickliffe in a yard in the 7900 block of South Ellis about 3 a.m., police and the medical examiner’s office said.

He had been shot several times in the abdomen and arm. Wickliffe, who lived in Harvey, was taken to Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center, where he died at 3:22 a.m.

Another man was shot to death a couple hours earlier in the Washington Park neighborhood. Semial Sigle, 30, was in the first block of West Garfield about 12:20 a.m. when he got into a fight with two other people, police and the medical examiner’s office said.

During the fight, one of them shot him in the chest. Sigle, who lived in the 1800 block of South Wolcott, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m.

Prince Wilson was stabbed to death and another man wounded in Park Manor early Friday. The 24-year-old Wilson died after being stabbed multiple times in the face and body about 5:30 a.m. in the 6900 block of South Prairie, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 21-year-old man was stabbed in the left arm and was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where his condition was stabilized. Police are searching for a third man, whose name and age were not known. The stabbing stemmed from a verbal dispute inside a home between the three “known acquaintances,” police said.

A 16-year-old boy was found dead Thursday afternoon with a gunshot wound to the head in the Woodlawn neighborhood. Damarcus Williams was found shot in the head at 1:12 p.m. in the 6100 block of South Evans, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Williams, who lived in the 6100 block of South Cottage Grove, was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:22 p.m. Police initially thought the teen accidentally shot himself, but later reclassified the death as a homicide. Area Central detectives questioned a “person of interest," but that person was released without charges.

Two men were shot—one fatally—in the Austin neighborhood Wednesday evening. They were outside in the 5800 block of West Augusta about 5:30 p.m. when someone in a passing vehicle shot them, police said.

Marcus Patrick, 22, of the 5800 block of West Erie, was shot in the wrist and chest, and was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he died at 6:13 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. An autopsy showed he died of multiple gunshot wounds.

The other man, 21, was shot in the finger and arm, police said. He took himself to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, where his condition stabilized.

A man found shot to death Wednesday morning in the Austin neighborhood was identified as a 28-year-old West Side resident. Romaine May was found with a gunshot wound to the head in a vacant lot in the 5400 block of West Walton about 9:30 a.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

May, of the 1000 block of North Mayfield, was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:45 a.m. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the medical examiner’s office.

James Hooks was shot and killed in the Humboldt Park neighborhood Tuesday night. The 38-year-old was in an argument with someone in the 4000 block of West Kamerling about 9:30 p.m. when the other person pulled out a gun and shot him, according to police and the medical examiner's office.

Hooks, of the 4500 block of South LaCrosse Avenue, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:54 p.m., according to the medical examiner's office. An autopsy found he died of a gunshot wound to the back and his death was ruled a homicide. Police said the shooting is possibly domestic-related.

One man was killed and two others injured in a Noble Square neighborhood shooting Monday night. The 24-year-old victim was standing with two other men in the 1500 block of West Walton shortly after 11 p.m. when another male walked up and fired shots, according to police.

Eric Nieves suffered gunshot wounds to the chest, and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police and the medical examiner's office. He lived in the 900 block of North Kedvale.

The two other men, ages 19 and 20, drove themselves to Stroger Hospital, police said. The younger man was shot in the head and was listed in serious condition, while the older man was shot in the arm and had his condition stabilized.

A man was fatally shot over a pair of headphones Monday in the Irving Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side. Ashraf Sennouni, 28, was killed during an argument in the 4300 block of North Elston just before 11 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Thirty-year-old Larry Russell has been charged with first-degree murder and possession of cannabis, according to police. Russell and Sennouni got into an argument over headphones in the 4300 block of North Elston, Assistant State’s Attorney April Gonzales said at Russell’s bond hearing Wednesday.

Russell became angry, pulled out a handgun and fired four times at Sennouni, Gonzales said. He was hit twice, ran across Elston and collapsed to the ground. Sennouni, of the 4200 block of West Irving Park, was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:06 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

Russell, after being identified by a witness, was captured shortly after the shooting less than a mile away, police said. He is being held without bond.

A man was shot to death Monday night while driving on I-57 in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the Far South Side. Maurice Johnston, 37, was driving a silver van in the 11000 block of South Hamlet near the I-57 on-ramp about 8:35 p.m. when someone fired shots, according to police and the medical examiner's office.

The van continued north onto I-57 before coming to a stop near 108th Street, police said. Johnston, of the 11500 block of South Wentworth, was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the medical examiner's office.

Police have investigated 20 shootings on Chicago highways so far in 2016.

The week's first homicide victim succumbed to a shooting that occurred nearly two months earlier. Eric O’Reilly died Monday after being shot March 20 in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. The 27-year-old was walking on the sidewalk in the 4900 block of South Laflin about 5 a.m. when he was shot in the chest, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

O’Reilly, who lived on the same block, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died. An autopsy found he died of complications from multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide. No one is in custody.

Police say 311 operator Yvonne Nelson innocent victim of Bronzeville attack that targeted gang member

Jeff Mayes — Sat, 21 May 2016 09:40:14 -0500

By ANDY GRIMM
Chicago Sun-Times

A woman was fatally shot, and a man critically injured outside a Starbucks at 35th and State Friday afternoon. | Andy Grimm/Sun-Times

Yvonne Nelson, a “completely innocent” city 311 operator, was killed by errant gunfire in a gang-related shooting two blocks from Chicago Police headquarters in Bronzeville Friday afternoon.

The shooting came just minutes after a press conference touting a major “gang takedown,” police said.

At 3:52 p.m., a 19-year-old man flagged down officers in the 3500 block of South State Street, saying he had been shot, and they found the 49-year-old Nelson on a sidewalk nearby with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Nelson, of the 4900 block of South Vincennes, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died at 4:33 p.m., authorities said. She had been a communications operator for 311 City Services since 2002, according to a statement from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, department spokesman Frank Giancamilli and First Deputy Supt. John Escalante near shooting scene. |Andy Grimm/For Sun-Times

“Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time. She will be deeply missed by her fellow staff at 311,” an OEMC statement said.

The man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with gunshot wounds to the hand and buttocks. His condition stabilized, police said.

Police said the 19-year-old was a documented gang member and the target of the shooting. He worked at the Jimmy John’s restaurant a few doors down from the Starbucks where Nelson was found.

But franchise co-owner Diane Landry disputed CPD’s description and said he had been a good employee over three-plus years.

“Maybe (he was) when he was 15 or something,” said Landry, who hired him through a program for neighborhood youth. Landry said the victim may have had some sort of troubles as a teenager, but had no problems during the three-plus years he’d worked for her.

“He was a great guy. He never missed a shift, and he was always picking up shifts for other people,” she said, noting the store manager was at the hospital with the victim’s family.

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson walked two blocks from CPD headquarters at 35th and Michigan to the crime scene after a press conference announcing a sweep of arrests in a gang investigation.

“This incident right here highlights what I’ve been saying for the past month and a half about how brazen these violent offenders are,” Johnson said.

No one was in custody for the shooting Friday night.