At least 18 people were killed in violence in Chicago last week, including an elderly west suburban businessman who often returned to his West Side neighborhood, where he advocated against violence and spent time trying to improve the relationship between the community and the police.

Sun-Times file photo

Allen, who grew up in the Austin, was one of the first black owners of an insurance agency backed by a major national company, Allstate, before retiring about seven years ago. He was also an activist whose goal was to help repair the relationship between police and communities with the group Urban Partnership. The Naperville resident, a graduate of Chicago State University, also hosted “The Financial Forum” on WVON-AM, and served as a precinct committeeman in Naperville Township and was active in the DuPage County NAACP.

Family members said it was not unusual for Allen to be playing cards in his old neighborhood. He was a big fan of the game Bid Whist, and even wrote a book, “The Evolution of Bid Whist,” on the history and strategy of the game. Allen was 73.

• Also shot to death in the city last week was a 25-year-old man with a 20-0 record as professional boxer. His co-manager said Ed “Bad Boy” Brown“was going to be a world champion.” Instead, the Garfield Park native, who wore a Chicago flag uniform when he fought, was gunned down early Saturday., just half a mile from his home, according to police and co-manager, Mike Cericola.
  

  Brown was sitting in a parked vehicle with a 19-year-old woman, his cousin, about 1:10 a.m. in the 3200 block of West Warren when a vehicle pulled up and someone inside shot at them, police said. Brown was shot in the head, and the woman was struck in the leg. Both were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital. Brown was initially put on life support, but was pronounced dead at 4:04 p.m. Sunday, according to the medical examiner’s office. The woman was listed in good condition.

• The week's final homicide was a man shot to death Sunday night in his home in the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side. About 11:45 p.m., officers arrived in the 8100 block of South Ellis and found 45-year-old Darren Smith unresponsive, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
• A west suburban man was killed and two others wounded in a shooting inside a restaurant earlier Sunday in the Parkway Gardens neighborhood on the South Side. They were in Sammy's Grill and Restaurant in the 6300 block of South King Drive at 3:07 a.m. when two suspects entered and opened fire, according to police. Antron T. Young, 23, of Naperville was shot in the face and was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other men were wounded and took themselves to St. Bernard Hospital, where their conditions were stabilized.
• A 22-year-old man was fatally shot early Sunday in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, police said. Shortly before 2 a.m., Deangelo Martin was standing with a group of people in the 7300 block of South Yale when gunfire erupted and he was shot multiple times in the neck, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. A friend took Martin to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead an hour later, authorities said.
• A 40-year-old man was stabbed to death Saturday night in the Jefferson Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side. Bartiomiej R. Barczyk was stabbed in the chest in a building in the 5500 block of West Higgins by another man during an argument at 11:37 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Barczyk was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he was pronounced dead. Police said the stabbing was domestic-related, but no charges have been filed.
• A 16-year-old boy died hours after being shot Friday evening inside a Lawndale neighborhood apartment building on the West Side. About 6:15 p.m., Christopher Brandon-Lucket was with two other people in the basement of a building in the 1500 block of South Kedzie when he was shot in the face, authorities said. Brandon-Lucket was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died at 2:19 a.m. Saturday. Police said no one was in custody for the shooting.
• A 19-year-old man died Friday, one day after he was shot repeatedly Thursday afternoon in the Marquette Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side. Carl A. Jones was standing outside at 2:09 p.m. in the 6300 block of South Kedzie when someone walked up, fired shots, then ran away, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He was shot in the head, chest, and shoulder; and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at the hospital at 6:15 p.m. Friday.
• A man was fatally shot Friday afternoon in the East Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side. At 2:50 p.m., 33-year-old Curtis Nowells was walking in a park in the 5400 block of South Cornell when someone wearing a mask walked up from behind and opened fire before running away, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Nowells was found unresponsive by officers and pronounced at the scene.
• A man was fatally shot Thursday evening in the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side. Reginald G. Smith, 48, was found unresponsive at 7:33 p.m. in a parking lot in the 7800 block of South Cottage Grove, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead an hour later.
• A man was shot to death early Thursday in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side. Officers responding to reports of shots fired at 1:16 a.m. found 19-year-old Marqual Donell Bailey with gunshot wounds to the head and chest in the 300 block of South Whipple. Bailey was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
• A 22-year-old man was fatally shot Wednesday night in the South Shore neighborhood, according to authorities. Officers responding to a call of shots fired at 8:05 p.m. in the 6800 block of South Cornell found Trayvon M. Dickerson in a gangway with gunshot wounds to the head and abdomen. He was dead at the scene.
• A Georgia man died after he was shot while driving Wednesday morning, then crashing his vehicle in the South Side Burnside neighborhood. Mandle Lee Johnson III, 25, was driving about 6:20 a.m. and crashed into a bus shelter in the 9300 block of South Cottage Grove, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He had been shot three times in the lower abdomen and once in the lower back. He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died less than an hour later.
• A man was shot to death Tuesday night on the South Side. Shortly after 8 p.m., officers responding to a shooting in the 2800 block of East 79th Street found 30-year-old Addonis Johnson on a sidewalk with gunshot wounds to the chest, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Johnson was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died.
• A 51-year-old man was found fatally shot early Tuesday in the Cragin neighborhood on the Northwest Side. Officers responding to calls of a person down at 1:32 a.m. in the 2500 block of North Lavergne found Gregorio Aguilar with a gunshot wound to the lower abdomen, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Aguilar was pronounced dead at the scene.
• A man beaten to death with a bottle Monday evening in the West Englewood neighborhood was identified as 41-year-old Charles Johnson. Paramedics called for police after finding him about 6:30 p.m. near the intersection of 63rd Street and Ashland, according to police. He had been struck in the head with a bottle during a fight. Johnson died at Stroger Hospital.
• A man and a teenage boy were found shot to death Monday evening inside a vehicle in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side. Officers discovered 19-year-old Leny Cervantes, and 17-year-old Jamie Cervantes inside a vehicle about 6:15 p.m. in the 4500 block of South Wolcott, according to authorities. The older man had been shot in the head, and the teen had been shot in the abdomen. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

The death of 1-month-old Timothy Harmon on Wednesday afternoon in the South Side Englewood neighborhood has been ruled a homicide by child abuse.

About 2 p.m., officers responded to a call to assist paramedics who were treating an infant who was not breathing inside his home in the 6600 block of South Racine, according to Chicago Police.

Timothy was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where he died at 2:39 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Police initially said there were no obvious signs of trauma on the infant. But an autopsy Thursday found Timothy died of multiple injuries caused by child abuse, and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Area South detectives are conducting a death investigation, police said. The state Department of Children and Family Services is also investigating, and a spokewoman said the agency has had no prior contact with the family.

Reports say the baby was home with a sitter at the time 911 was called.

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Ana Rosa Mora | Cook County Sheriff's Dept.

Ana Rosa Mora, 21, pleaded guilty Nov. 29 to one count of involuntary manslaughter, according to Cook County court records.

Mora’s newborn son was found in a gangway about 8:30 a.m. April 19, 2014, in the 2700 block of North Hamlin Avenue, authorities said at the time. The infant was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mora, who lived on the same block, was arrested after she admitted to putting the live infant inside a plastic bag and leaving him in the gangway, authorities said.

Judge James Obbish sentenced her to three years in prison on Nov. 29, according to court records. She will receive credit for 95 days served in the Cook County Jail, and must serve one year of supervised release.

Mora was booked into the Logan Correctional Center on Wednesday to begin serving her sentence, according to IDOC records.

A man who was shot Wednesday evening while driving in the West Side Lawndale neighborhood and died two days later was identified as 64-year-old Otis Hatchett.

At 6:35 p.m. Wednesday, Hatchett was driving a vehicle in the 1300 block of South Komensky, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Someone outside the vehicle started shooting, and he was struck in the head.

Hatchett was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died two days later at 11:05 p.m. Friday, authorities said. He lived in the 100 block of North Menard.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Nineteen-year-old Shaqwon I. Stidhun was killed Friday afternoon in a shooting just a block away from his home in the West Side Austin neighborhood.

At 3:17 p.m., Stidhun was standing in the 5500 block of West Crystal when two men approached him and one or both fired shots, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The men then drove away in an older model sedan.

Stidhun, who lived about a block away in the 5400 block of West Crystal, was taken to Loyola University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:07 p.m., authorities said.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Anthony "Mook G" Barr of south suburban Harvey was fatally shot Sunday afternoon while sitting in a vehicle in the Far South Side Riverdale neighborhood.

Barr, 45, was sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked blue SUV at 12:04 p.m. in the 300 block of East 136th Street, Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

He was when approached by two men, who opened fire and then ran away, police said.

Barr was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:32 p.m., authorities said. Known to friends as "Mook G," he lived in the 15000 block of Vine Avenue in Harvey.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Alfredo Ramos | Chicago Police

Bond was denied Friday for 24-year-old Alfredo Ramos, charged with first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of the 25-year-old Bowman, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County sheriff’s office.

Bowman was walking with a group about 6:15 p.m. when Ramos got out of a car and opened fire, hitting Bowman in the chest, authorities allege.

Justin Bowman | Facebook

Ramos is being held in the Cook County Jail. and his next court appearance is Dec. 28, according to the sheriff's office.

Bowman, a graduate of Schurz High School. had been attending Lake Land College in downstate Mattoon.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least one person was fatally shot last week in Chicago.

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NEED ID: A man was found shot to death Monday morning in the Roseland neighborhood on the Far South Side, according to police. The 53-year-old was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head on the ground in the 11400 block of South King Drive about 11:45 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

George Evans | Cook County Sheriff's Dept.

George R. Evans, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of reckless homicide with a motor vehicle before Judge Evelyn Clay, according to Cook County court records.

Evans was driving a rented Volkswagen on April 26, 2015, with his cousin and his cousin’s young children in the vehicle when he sped through a stoplight at 87th and Lafayette, and struck a woman while driving nearly 90 mph, prosecutors said at the time.

The impact catapulted the Hunter about 100 feet and shattered the window of the Volkswagen, prosecutors said.

Hunter was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. She lived in the 8200 block of South Kimbark.

Bria Hunter | Facebook

The teen was reported missing by her mother the day after the accident, but was not identified as the victim until ab out six weeks later, when a riend of the family saw her description on the Cook County medical examiner’s office website,

After the crash, Evans was captured on cellphone video standing over Hunter’s body, laughing as he talked about being in another crash the previous week, prosecutors said.

Police found him sitting in the rental care and the scene, and he told them he was driving the rental vehicle because he had totaled his own car a week earlier, police said.

Judge Clay sentenced Evans to community service and 36 months of probation Friday, according to court records.

A man killed in a shooting that led to a crash that injured three other people last week in the South Side Englewood neighborhood has been identified as Nathaniel Lewis-Edwards of south suburban Lansing.

Lewis, 31, was letting a passenger out of his vehicle about 4 p.m. Thursday in the 7100 block of South Morgan when someone approached and began shooting, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He tried to drive away after being shot, but was involved in a crash with three other vehicles. Firefighters and police were initially called about the crash, authorities said.

Edwards was found inside his vehicle with a gunshot wound to the chest, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:28 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 18100 block of Crystal Lane in Lansing.

A 21-year-old woman who was inside Lewis' vehicle was taken in good condition to Saint Bernard Hospital with minor injuries, police said.

A 63-year-old woman and 5-year-old boy, who were inside another vehicle involved in the crash, suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening, police said. The woman was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, and the boy to Comer Children’s Hospital. Both of their conditions were stabilized.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Quenten Wright was shoveling snow in front of his home in the Far South Side Roseland neighborhood Monday morning when he was fatally shot.

Neighbors said the 53-year-old Wright was shoveling in the 11400 block of South King Drive about 11:45 a.m. when a man approached and tried to rob him. The robber then shot Wright in the head before running off.

Officers responding to a call of a person down found Wright on the ground near his home with a gunshot wound to the head and gunshot wounds to each arm, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Wright was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died about four hours later at 3:31 p.m., authorities said.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Lawrence T. Matchem, known as a crusader for anti-violence efforts, became the latest victim of Chicago violence when the 49-year-old was shot to death Monday afternoon in the South Side Oakland neighborhood.

About 12:30 p.m., officers found Matchem unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head in the 800 block of East 40th Street, Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Matchem, who lived in the 4400 block of South La Crosse, was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:44 p.m., authorities said.

A video about Matchem, known to friends as "Bookie," was posted on Facebook and had been viewed thousands of time by Tuesday morning.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

De'Kayla Dansberry | Facebook

Associate Judge Stuart Paul Katz cited the girl’s age at the time of the murder, 13, as well as her good grades, when denying the prosecution’s motion for an extended juvenile jurisdiction, which would make the minor subject to an adult sentence if she failed to complete her juvenile sentence satisfactorily.

The girl could have chosen to stay home, not taken the knife her mother offered, or go unarmed to the fight on May 14, 2016, that led to De’Kayla’s “stupid and senseless” murder outside the Parkway Gardens housing complex, Katz said.

But the judge also noted that, based on her psychological evaluations and lack of disciplinary problems while in custody, the girl shows a “strong likelihood of rehabilitation.”

The girl may not have been physically beaten at home, but moving 13 times in the last five years was a form of abuse and neglect, Katz said.

Chanda Foreman | Facebook

Tamika Gayden | Chicago Police

Katz went on to lambast the teen’s mother, Tamika Gayden, who allegedly egged the girl on by telling her to take the murder weapon from her purse and to use it if necessary against those who had been harassing her and her friends.

“This is a woman who should never be allowed to have children in her custody and control,” Katz said as Gayden looked on, dressed in Cook County Jail garb.

Gayden, of the 6400 block of South King Drive, also was charged with murder for her alleged role in the incident, as well as felony contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Members of De’Kayla’s family quickly left the courtroom after Katz gave his ruling.

The accused girl, now 14, sat in the courtroom, mostly with her head tilted to the side, while drawing a flower at Thursday’s hearing.

Assistant Public Defender Tamar Sirkin and her colleagues argued that she had acted in self-defense after De’Kayla taunted her and her pals, then threw punches at her friend.

Workers at the Juvenile Detention facility have noted that the girl was in “shock” and looked like a “deer in the headlights” when she was initially charged with murder.

Since then, she has isolated herself and endured crying spells, bad dreams and guilt, Sirkin said.

When she ran back into the third-floor apartment after the stabbing and learned De’Kayla had died, a friend heard her say to authorities, “Take me too. I did it too.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Schweitzer argued the girl knew what she was doing when she and her friends stopped playing cards and went to confront the other teens, with whom they had gotten into a shouting match from the third-floor apartment.

The girl, who was armed, went outside, pulling her pink hoodie over her head in an effort to conceal her identity, Schweitzer said.

One teenage witness said the girl looked “fed up” as she went outside, Schweitzer said. Another said she saw the girl trying to clean the knife after De’Kayla was stabbed and screamed, “I killed her. I killed her.”

“She could have remained in the periphery,” but the girl chose to stab De’Kayla in the chest within seconds of the fight, the prosecutor said.

Sirkin and Schweitzer both presented surveillance videos that captured the stabbing as two groups of girls fought in the street.

An unmarked squad car can be seen in a nearby intersection as the brawl unfolded.

An older woman was injured when she tried to stop the rumble before it turned deadly, Schweitzer said.

Derrick Swanigan was fatally shot Friday night in his home in the South Side Chatham neighborhood by someone he knew, according to police, but a person of interest who was questioned was later released.

Swanigan, 34, was shot in the chest during a fight with someone he knew inside his home in the 8000 block of South Evans just after 10 p.m. Friday, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Swanigan was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 10:58 p.m., authorities said.

Area South detectives questioned a person of interest after the shooting, but that person was released without being charged.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Anthony Shorter, wounded in a shooting on Thanksgiving a few blocks from his home in the West Side Austin neighborhood, died of his injuries on Monday.

Shorter, 32, was walking with a 35-year-old man and a third man about 11:45 p.m. Nov. 24 in the 1600 block of North Latrobe. An argument started and the third man pulled out a handgun and fired shots, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Shorter was shot in the chest, abdomen and leg; and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 2:22 a.m. Monday, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He lived just a few blocks away in the 1700 block of North Lorel.

The older man was shot in the leg and was taken to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, where his condition was stabilized.

No one was in custody as of Wednesday morning.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 9 people died from violence last week, including a 1-month-old baby whose death in Englewood was ruled a homicide by child abuse, as Chicago's 2016 murder total neared 750.

As of Wednesday morning, there have been at least 741 homicides in Chicago this year, according to Chicago Sun-Times Wire statistics. If you add in 11 people who died in 2016 after being shot or assaulted in prior years, the number is 752 with three weeks left in the year.

One of those was the death of a 1-month-old boy Wednesday afternoon in Englewood. About 2 p.m. Dec. 7, officers responded to assist paramedics treating an unresponsive infant inside his home in the 6600 block of South Racine, according to Chicago Police. Timothy Harmon was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where he died minutes later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy Thursday found Timothy died of multiple injuries caused by child abuse, according to the medical examiner's office. Area South detectives are investigating, along with the Department of Children and Family Services. Police said the baby's mother was not home at the time, and the 911 call was made by a babysitter.

• Last week's final homicide was south suburban man fatally shot Sunday afternoon in the Riverdale neighborhood on the Far South Side. Anthony "Mook G" Barr, 45, was sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked blue SUV at 12:04 p.m. in the 300 block of East 136th Street when he was approached by two male suspects, who opened fire before running away, police and the medical examiner’s office said. Barr, who lived in Harvey, was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
• A man shot Wednesday evening in the West Side Lawndale neighborhood died two days later. At 6:35 p.m., Otis Hatchett, 64, was driving a vehicle in the 1300 block of South Komensky when he was struck in the head by gunfire that came from outside the vehicle, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Hatchett was taken to Stroger Hospital and pronounced dead at 11:05 p.m. Friday, authorities said.
• A man was fatally shot Friday night in the South Side Chatham neighborhood. Derrick Swanigan, 34, was shot in the chest by someone he knew during a fight inside his home in the 8000 block of South Evans just after 10 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Swanigan was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead about an hour later. Area South detectives questioned a person of interest after the shooting, but that person was later released without being charged.
• A 19-year-old man was killed Friday afternoon in a shooting in the West Side Austin neighborhood. At 3:17 p.m., Shaqwon I. Stidhun was standing in the 5500 block of West Crystal when two men approached and one or both of them fired shots, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. The men then drove away. Stidhun, who lived about a block away, was taken to Loyola University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
• A man was killed and three people, including a young child, were injured in a crash caused by a shooting Thursday afternoon in Englewood. Nathaniel Lewis-Edwards, 31, was letting a passenger out of his vehicle about 4 p.m. in the 7100 block of South Morgan when someone approached and began shooting, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. After being shot, he tried to drive away, but was involved in a crash with three other vehicles.

  Lewis-Edwards was found inside his vehicle with a gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He lived in south suburban Lansing. A 21-year-old woman who was inside his vehicle was taken to Saint Bernard Hospital with minor injuries. A 63-year-old woman and 5-year-old boy, who were inside another vehicle involved in the crash, suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, police said. The woman was taken to Christ Medical Center and the boy to Comer Children’s Hospital.

• A man was fatally shot Tuesday afternoon in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the Southwest Side. About 4:30 p.m., someone walked up to 52-year-old Sylvester Rainge in the 1300 block of South Komensky and opened fire, hitting him repeatedly, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Rainge was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
• A 17-year-old boy was killed and a woman wounded in a shooting Tuesday afternoon in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the West Side. They were outside about noon in the 1000 block of North Harding when a gunman walked up and opened fire, hitting the woman in the leg and the boy in the chest, according to police. Elijah Jones was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died 30 minutes later, according to the medical examiner's office. The 21-year-old woman was taken in good condition to Norwegian American Hospital.
• A 37-year-old man was fatally shot Monday afternoon in the West Side Austin neighborhood. Lafayette Montgomery was in a vehicle in the 1700 block of North Long about 2 p.m. when someone in a beige vehicle fired multiple shots, according to police and the medical examiner's office. He got out of his vehicle, and was struck in the head and left arm. Montgomery was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died about 3 hours later.

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Terrence Ghani | Chicago Police

Terrence Ghani, 23, was found guilty of second-degree murder on Nov. 14, according to Cook County court records.

Ghani fatally shot the 21-year-old Curtis about 4:30 p.m. Nov. 6, 2013, in the 8700 block of South Loomis Street, authorities said.

Curtis, of the 8600 block of South Marshfield Avenue, was shot in the abdomen, arm and neck; and died about an hour later at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, authorities said.

Curtis’ grandmother, Lucille Murdock, said at the time that her son was coming to help her when gunfire erupted outside her home. She looked out the window and saw her grandson on the ground.

Phillip Curtis | Facebook

Curtis, nicknamed “Mister,” had two 1-year-old daughters, family members said. He had attended DuSable High School and enjoyed playing video games.

Judge Carol Howard sentenced Ghani to 17 years in prison during a hearing on Dec. 6, according to court records. He will receive credit for three years and 15 days served in the Cook County Jail, and will have to serve two years of supervised release.

Ghani was booked into the Stateville Correctional Center to begin serving his sentence Dec. 8.

Antonian T. Mixon, Georgia resident, was shot to death Wednesday night in the West Chatham neighborhood on the South Side.

A man from Georgia was shot to death Wednesday night in the West Chatham neighborhood. | Network Video Productions

The suspect then fired shots, striking Mixon in the head, before getting into a silver vehicle and leaving the scene, authorities said.

Mixon, who lived in the 4200 block of Miners Creek Road in Lithonia, Georgia, was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By ANDY GRIMM
Chicago Sun-Times

Cook COUnty Commissioner Richard Boykin | Sun-Times file photo

The wide-ranging report, released Wednesday after 10 months of research and public hearings, offers a variety of policy suggestions and suggested tactics to reduce violence in the county, from endorsing “hot spot” patrols to increased funding for employment to anti-violence programs — but it was not clear how many of the recommendations would take hold.

“We have a blueprint. We have to implement it,” Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin said after the board of commissioners formally entered the report into the record. The meeting had begun with a resolution honoring Javon Wilson, grandson of U.S. Rep. Danny Davis. Wilson, a 17-year-old honor student, was gunned down in November at his home in Englewood, one of more than 740 homicides in Chicago so far this year.

The report endorses “hot spot” police measures — sending officers to areas with surging crime — and called for more community-oriented policing, familiar themes of contemporary crime-fighting.

But the authors also called for creating a consortium of academic, law enforcement and public health groups to coordinate research on violence, and for local police agencies to coordinate gun traces and crime reporting.

Boykin said federal law prevents the Illinois State Police from sharing data on gun traces with any group other than the law enforcement agency that requests the trace, but individual police agencies could share the information among themselves.

An intra-county database could allow police to follow guns, helping solve crimes and locate sources of weapons, said John Donovan, special assistant and counsel to Sheriff Tom Dart. Likewise, police agencies could track crime trends more easily if they had a uniform system for reporting and exchanging information.

“The hope is that we can come together and move that ball forward,” Donovan said.

Boykin said at least one recommendation of the task force, launching a public health study on violence and its effects, started earlier this year when the County Board approved the Cook County Health & Human Services panel to study violence in collaboration with other area hospitals. Boykin said he would be frustrated if other suggestions don’t become reality.

“We’re in a state of emergency” because of surging crime, Boykin said. “But you can’t tell that by the [reaction of] elected officials.”

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago SUn-Times Wire

Eric Hamilton | Cook County Sheriff's Dept.

Eric Hamilton, 48, was found guilty of murder on Sept. 14 after a two-day bench trial before Judge Kevin Sheehan, according to Cook County court records.

On Dec. 8, 2014, Hamilton and his fiance had just returned to their home in the 6100 block of South Wabash Avenue when her brother, the 25-year-old Johnson, asked to use her bus card and an argument began, prosecutors said at Hamilton's bond hearing.

Hamilton thought Johnson disrespected his fiance and got involved in the dispute, prosecutors said. He eventually called 911, but when responding officers learned the dispute was not physical, they “left after taking some information.”

After police left, Hamilton and Johnson continued to argue, and Hamilton’s fiance told the pair to go outside, where the argument escalated into a fight, prosecutors said. Johnson eventually got into his vehicle and drove around the block, but Hamilton followed in a second vehicle.

Guvonni Johnson | Facebook

A maintenance worker saw both men park their vehicles at Wabash, and Hamilton walk towards Johnson’s vehicle, prosecutors said. Hamilton then tried to break the passenger-side window of Johnson’s vehicle.

Johnson got out and started to run away, but Hamilton pulled a handgun and shot him, prosecutors said. When Johnson to fell to the street, Hamilton bent over him and shot him three more times.

Johnson, 25, who lived in the home with his sister, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died the next day, authorities said.

After the shooting, Hamilton ran to the back of his fiance’s home, knocked on the window, told her he was sorry, then ran away, prosecutors said.

Hamilton has three previous misdemeanor convictions, including a 1988 case where he was sentenced to a year of supervision for unlawful use of a weapon, according to court records.

His lawyer claimed that before the fight, Johnson was hitting and kicking Hamilton, who wrestled for the gun inside the home and was acting in self-defense.

Judge Sheehan sentenced Hamilton to 55 years in prison Monday, according to court records. He will receive credit for 733 days served in the Cook County Jail, and will have to serve three years of supervised release.

He was booked into the Stateville Correctional Center to begin serving his sentence Tuesday.