BY SUSAN DU
Homicide Watch Chicago

Paris Brown had just dropped off dinner for her young daughter and was about to go on a dinner date with her fiance when she was fatally shot outside her Greater Grand Crossing home last week, family said.

Brown, 21, was sitting in a parked car outside her home in the 7100 block of South Perry Avenue in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood when an SUV pulled up alongside and somebody inside opened fire about 10:55 p.m. June 9, authorities said.

She died less than an hour later at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. A man in the car -- identified by family as Brown's fiance -- was shot in the back and lower leg and treated at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said.

Brown had just bought the car three months ago, and the couple were going on a dinner date when the gunfire erupted, family said.

Brown's mother, Phyllis Hawkins, said the couple had dropped off McDonald's for their young daughter and just got back into the car when she heard gunshots. Hawkins said she ran to a window and saw the remainder of the attack.

"I was just shouting and screaming when I heard the shots because I knew," Hawkins said. "I ran out the door to the car, no hesitation. I witnessed my daughter there, unresponsive ... I was calling her name. It was probably the last thing she heard."

Prior to the shooting, Brown and Hawkins had been planning a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party for Brown's 3-year-old daughter.

Brown supported her daughter by working as a customer service representative for a collections agency in northwest suburban Schaumburg. She had her own apartment, a growing savings account and a car, family said.

Brown wanted to get married and take road trips in that car. Instead that car is where she was shot to death.

"It hurt me bad," her friend LaKesha Clifford said. "Paris was my friend. She always smiled. She was pretty. I ain't never found nobody that understood me after all these years ... My Paris, she was my angel and I'm gonna miss her real bad."

Paris Brown / Photo from Twitter

Brown was an only child, but grew up in a house with ample aunts, uncles and cousins -- some of whom were close enough in age to be siblings, her uncle James Hawkins said. As a baby, Brown rarely cried, a trait that continued into adulthood.

"I will say that Paris was never lacking for strength," James Hawkins said. "She was like a rose that grew out of the concrete."

Gangs and gunfire in the neighborhood prompted James Hawkins to suggest moving the family to the suburbs, but Brown always disregarded talk of leaving the city she loved.

"At this time, suburbia might just be the place we need to be," James Hawkins said. "We need peace and quiet. That's something that's sticking with me now, that maybe we should have packed up and moved away from the city earlier, gotten away from this violence."

Nobody has been charged for the murder. Area South detectives are investigating.

-- Video by Peter Holderness

Daniel Jones was killed in a West Garfield Park shooting Tuesday afternoon.

Jones, 30, was shot in the head about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 3900 block of West Washington Boulevard, authorities said.

Jones, of the 4100 block of West Wilcox Street, died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County less than an hour later, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Preacher Charles Short, 51, was fatally shot last month in the Fuller Park neighborhood. Reader "Matt S" posted this about the killing:

My sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Short. I find it incredibly sad that a simple trip to the grocery store cost Mr. Short his life. 51 or 5, no parent should lose their child to such senseless violence. I hope his killer is brought to justice.

BY JESSICA KOSCIELNIAK AND EMILY BROSIOUS
Homicide Watch Chicago

Brandon Peterson "loved to dance" with his friends, family said.

Brandon, 17, was with those friends when he was shot in the head and leg while standing in a group in the 3100 block of West Polk Street in East Garfield Park about 12:05 a.m. Sunday, authorities said.

“I heard the gunshots and my daughter went out,” Brandon's mother, Alicia Jefferson said. “She came in saying, ‘It’s my brother! It’s my brother!’”

Jefferson said she ran outside and saw her son’s lifeless body on the ground.
Brandon died a short time later at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

“I wouldn’t have thought this would happen in a million years, because he wasn’t a bad kid. He wasn’t a bad kid at all,” Jefferson said. “When I went to the morgue ... to identify his body, it sunk in what happened.”

Brandon had been at a party near his home in the 3000 block of West Polk Street before being shot, said his brother, Lamont Peterson.

“He and his crew, they loved to dance,” Lamont Peterson said. “That’s all they would do.”

In addition to dancing, Brandon loved sports, his mother said.

“He played everything -- tag football, regular football, race running, track baseball, football, basketball, soccer too,” she said.

Lamont Peterson said he will miss his brother’s smile and sharing bedroom.

“We had fun just doing what brothers do best,” Lamont Peterson said. “Loving each other, taking care of each other, having fun together,”

As a teenager, Brandon had gotten into trouble and was facing a gun possession charge, Lamont Peterson said. His mother said he bought the gun to protect himself.

“He ain’t never killed nobody, he ain’t never shot nobody. He ain’t never done nothing wrong for that man to do that,” Lamont Peterson said. “I never thought I would lose him because he wasn’t in the streets like a typical gang banger.”

Lamont Peterson said his brother had been trying to stay out of trouble since the gun possession charge.

“You can’t blame him for being a kid," Lamont Peterson said. "Kids like to have fun. Until they get older, then they take things seriously. But they didn’t give my brother no time to get older. That man could have been something.”

Jefferson said her son was not a gang member, but his friends called their group "Shorty Mob." She thinks her son's death was related to his social group.

“Other boys were just jealous because he would fight,” Jefferson said.

“See now, they’ll rather shoot you than fight you. Nowadays, they ain’t fight -- they shoot.”

Family members said they had an idea of who the shooter was but nobody has yet been charged for the murder. Area North detectives are investigating.

BY JESSICA KOSCIELNIAK AND EMILY BROSIOUS
Homicide Watch Chicago

Damian Williams was on his way to dinner when he was shot dead last Thursday in the Austin neighborhood, his brother said.

“He had just left like 10 minutes before," said Williams' older brother, James Williams. "It all happened so fast. All I can remember is just running down and seeing him laying right there -- but I knew he was gone.”

Authorities said Damian Williams, 22, was standing with two men in the 5700 block of West Augusta Boulevard when somebody inside a tan Lincoln MKZ opened fire about 8:55 p.m. June 12.

Damian Williams, of the 5900 block of West Augusta Boulevard, was struck multiple times in the chest and died at Mount Sinai Hospital less than an hour later, authorities said. Another man, 23, was shot in the chest and groin and hospitalized in critical condition, police said.

James Williams described his brother as someone who saw what was going on in the streets and he chose to go a “totally different route.”

“He didn’t want jail. He didn’t want the police coming around him," James Williams said. "He didn’t want it.”

“He said drug dealing was not an option for him,” James Williams said.

Instead, Damian Williams recently took a job working at a Jewel warehouse to support his 1-year-old son, his brother said said.

“The way he was there for his baby, like, if there was a ‘Father-of-the-Year’ award, he had it,” James Williams said.

“That’s why it hurts so bad right now. I thought when you do good, good supposed to happen.”

Damian Williams / Photo from Facebook

Prior to the shooting, James Williams, 23, had recently returned to the Austin community after spending a year in Kansas trying to “get his life together.” He said he wants to say in the neighborhood, but knows he can't after his brother's death.

“I can’t walk down the street or go to the store down there, knowing that my little brother was murdered there on the street,” James Williams said.

He doesn’t know why someone would kill his brother and thinks the murder must have been a case of mistaken identity.

Nobody has been charged for the murder. Area North detectives are investigating.

Carnesha Fort was fatally shot this month inside her West Garfield Park home. Reader "Ahsha" posted this about the killing:

I get tears in my eyes this is so close to home for me I watch this little girl grow up I know her children father aunties and uncles and cousins and grandmother it hurts my heart to see the pain that they are going through R.I.P.Nesha

Demarcus Boswell was fatally shot Thursday evening in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood.

Boswell, 18, was in the 2800 block of West 71st Street when he was shot in the face and chest about 4:50 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

Boswell, of the 3300 block of West 65th Street, died at Holy Cross Hospital less than an hour later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area Central detectives are investigating if the shooting is gang related, police said.

PHOTOS BY ALEX WROBLEWSKI
For Chicago Sun-Times

Carnesha Fort, 22, was fatally shot in her West Garfield Park home June 6. She was laid to rest on Monday.

A downstate man has died more than a year after he was wounded in a Far South Side shooting.

Maurice Wooden, 51, was shot multiple times about 1:30 p.m. May 20, 2013, in the 9600 block of South Halsted Street, authorities said. Officers found him lying on the floor of a residence with gunshot wounds to the neck, shoulder and chest, police said.

Investigators learned a shooter kicked in the bedroom door, fired shots and then fled, police said.

Wooden, of the 1600 block of Edgewood Drive in Danville, died at Kindred Chicago Central Hospital at 5:55 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy found he died of complications of multiple gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide, the medical examiner’s office said. Diabetes and heart disease were also listed as secondary factors.

No one has been charged for the murder, police said.

Area South detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Scene where Taurus Williams was fatally shot / Photo by Alex Wroblewski

Taurus Williams was fatally shot Saturday afternoon in the Morgan Park neighborhood.

Two groups were gathered near South Homewood Avenue and West 111th Street when shots were fired about 4:45 p.m. Saturday, police said. One of the bullets struck Williams, 23, in the chest, authorities said.

After the shooting, the groups ran in different directions and emergency crews found Williams on the ground.

Williams, of the 300 block of West 100th Street, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was declared dead at 5:37 p.m. Saturday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

BY MATT MCKINNEY
For Chicago Sun-Times

A 19-year-old man was denied bond Sunday after he drove drunk and crashed a van in a construction zone -- killing one worker and injuring several others, prosecutors said.

Erick A. Lopez, of the 3700 block of 83rd Place, was charged with three felony counts of reckless homicide in a construction zone, aggravated DUI resulting in death and aggravated DUI resulting in bodily harm, police said.

Lopez allegedly sped through the construction zone at 4911 S. Western Ave., failing to stay in his lane and smashed into several orange construction barriers about 4:15 a.m. Saturday, prosecutors said.

The construction zone was marked, and workers were wearing reflective safety vests, according to an arrest report.

Lopez struck three workers — killing one — and crashed into an asphalt paver, prosecutors said.

Worker Jose Tafoya, 58, from Merrillville, Ind., was killed in the crash, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Two other workers injured were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.

Lopez’s passenger, a 20-year-old Chicago woman, was hospitalized with broken teeth and injuries to her arm, authorities said. She has since been released.

Police arrested Lopez at the crash site, where he refused to submit to DUI tests, prosecutors said.

He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for treatment and underwent court-ordered blood testing. Lopez had a blood-alcohol level of .231, according to police.

Lopez did not have a driver’s license or proof of insurance, prosecutors said. Police impounded his tan 2000 Chrysler van.

Lopez remained hospitalized Sunday and was not in court for his bond hearing before Cook County Judge James Brown.

Scene where Dekarlos Scott was fatally shot / Photo by Alex Wroblewski

A 15-year-old boy was killed in a shooting that also left another teenager wounded Saturday night in the Roseland neighborhood.

Dekarlos Scott and a 16-year-old boy were standing on a corner in the 100 block of West 109th Street when a vehicle pulled up and several occupants exited and opened fired about 10:05 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.

Dekarlos, of the 100 block of West 110th Street, was shot in the head and died at the scene, authorities said.

The 16-year-old was shot in the shoulder and taken to Roseland Community Hospital, police said.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Scene where Stanley Levy was fatally shot / Photo by NVP Video

Stanley Levy was shot to death early Sunday in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood.

Officers found Levy, 23, shot multiple times in the 7200 block of South Wentworth Avenue about 3:05 a.m., authorities said.

Levy, of the 100 block of West 126th Place, was dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area Central detectives are investigating.

Scene where Ovadiyah Chandler was shot / Photo by Alex Wroblewski

Ovadiyah Chandler was killed in a Sunday night shooting in the Hyde Park neighborhood that left another man wounded.

Chandler, 34, was with a 41-year-old man in the 5600 block of South Everett Avenue in Jackson Park when someone walked up and opened shot them about 7:20 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

The shooting happened less than a block from the Museum of Science and Industry.

Chandler was shot twice in the back of the head and died at the scene, authorities said. His home address was not immediately available.

The other man was shot in the arm and taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area Central detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

At least seven people were shot to death last week throughout Chicago.

Five of the murders happened over the weekend, when 21 other people were shot and wounded. All the weekend slayings happened on the South Side.

The last murder of the weekend happened about 7:20 p.m. Sunday when 34-year-old Ovadiyah Chandler was fatally shot in the 5600 block of Everett Avenue in Jackson Park near the Museum of Science and Industry, authorities said. A 41-year-old man was also wounded in the shooting.

In the Roseland neighborhood, officers found a male shot in the chest in a gangway in the 11100 block of South Lowe Avenue about 7:40 a.m. Sunday, police said. The victim's identity has not yet been released.

In the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, 23-year-old Stanley Levy was shot in the 7200 block of South Wentworth Avenue about 3:05 a.m. Sunday, authorities said. Levy, of the 100 block of West 126th Place, died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

On Saturday, 15-year-old Dekarlos Scott was standing on a corner in the 100 block of West 109th Street when a vehicle approached and the occupants shot him about 10:05 p.m., authorities said. A 16-year-old boy was also wounded in the shooting.

Dekarlos, of the 100 block of West 110th Street, was shot in the head and died at the scene, authorities said.

In the Morgan Park neighborhood, 23-year-old Taurus Williams was fatally shot near South Homewood Avenue and West 111th Street about 4:45 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.

Williams, of the 300 block of West 100th Street, was standing in a group when he was shot in the chest, authorities said. He died less than an hour later at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the medical examiner's office.

On Thursday, 18-year-old Demarcus Boswell was shot in the face and chest in the 2800 block of West 71st Street about 4:50 p.m., authorities said.

Boswell, of the 3300 block of West 65th Street, died at Holy Cross Hospital less than an hour later, according to the medical examiner's office.

On Tuesday, 30-year-old Daniel Jones was shot in the head in the 3900 block of West Washington Boulevard about 4:45 p.m., authorities said.

Jones, of the 4100 block of West Wilcox Street, died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County less than an hour later, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Additionally, 51-year-old Maurice Wooden died Tuesday from injuries suffered in a May 20, 2013, shooting in the 9600 block of South Halsted Street, authorities said. Police said the attacker kicked in a bedroom door and shot Wooden, of the 1600 block of Edgewood Drive in Danville.

Nobody has been charged in any of the murders.

However, 19-year-old Erick A. Lopez was charged with reckless homicide for allegedly being drunk when he crashed into 58-year-old construction worker Jose Tafoya early Saturday in the 4900 block of South Western Avenue.

Overall, the medical examiner’s office has ruled at least 177 Chicago deaths in 2014 a homicide — including seven people killed by police.

Additionally, the state’s attorney’s office filed first-degree murder charges against a speeding motorist who killed an off-duty police officer while trying to flee police even though the autopsy ruled the death an accident.

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

Musician DeAngelo “Elloski” Russell was fatally shot last month in the South Chicago neighborhood. Reader "SugarMama Drama" posted this about him:

He was the hook master and helped me record "Sugarmama Drama" he helped me to see my potential as a writer of my verses. Wish I had taken the opportunity to continue but I'll never forget the time and energy he spent to help me with my song. Much Love he will always be my CEO

A 16-year-old boy was found shot to death in a gangway Sunday morning in the Roseland neighborhood.

Police found Christopher Jones unresponsive in the 11100 block of South Lowe Avenue about 7:40 a.m. Sunday, authorities said. It was unclear when he was shot or how long his body had been there, police said.

Christopher, of the 200 block of West 111th Place, died of a gunshot wound to the chest and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.

Derrick Bowens / Photo from Facebook

BY SUSAN DU
Homicide Watch Chicago

Derrick Bowens was supposed to attend his son's graduation.

Bowens, 33, was fatally shot about 9:50 a.m. June 5 outside his home in the 7000 block of South Morgan Street, authorities said.

Police said Bowens was standing outside when a black car pulled up and a passenger in the rear seat opened fire — striking him in the abdomen. Bowens had just left the house to get breakfast before a job interview when he was shot while talking with a friend.

After nine hours of surgery, the father of seven died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, family said.

Bowens grew up in the Hilliard Homes public housing complex and later moved to the Englewood neighborhood, family said. Court records indicate he pleaded guilty to drug charges in 1999, 2006 and 2010. He received his GED from Kennedy-King College and worked odd jobs in home remodeling, family said.

"Derrick meant the world to me," his mother, Debra Bowens said. "He was a good child. He helped you. He would do anything for you. He was a good father to his children, the ones that was around him. And he was a good man."

But what set him apart him from his seven siblings and numerous cousins was his deep sense of humor, his mother and dreamed of being a standup comedian, family said.

Miesha Bowens, a cousin who considered Derrick Bowens to be more like a big brother, said a lot of humor went out of her life with his death.

"He was honestly everybody favorite. From the time you met up with him to the time you left, you would be crying, laughing all day," she said.

Days following the murder, Miesha Bowens said she couldn't sleep, but she could laugh about the last time Derrick Bowens poked fun at a little cousin by incessantly tickling his ear while he slept.

Derrick Bowens loved to spend time with his family, Miesha Bowens said. He cooked, he cut hair, drank and joked at home. He talked about going into nursing just because he liked helping people.

Juanita Spencer, the mother of one of Derrick Bowen's daughters, said she first struck up a conversation with him on the same street where he was killed. She said it was his tender and caring nature that hooked her.

"You felt his hugs, his warmth, that big old bright smile," Spencer said. "He was always cracking jokes, like he used to tell me, 'Get away from me, you just a drunk,' but he's always want to be around me anyway."

Spencer and her daughter had moved to Minnesota, and though Derrick Bowens hadn't seen the pair in years, he spoke to his daughter regularly on the phone. In the days preceding his death, they were planning a summer break reunion.

Spencer read a poem by her daughter during Derrick Bowens' funeral:

"I remember you told me you loved me and you couldn't wait to see me. I miss you a lot and I really wish I could have gotten to know you better. Although things happened the way they did, I never questioned your love for me. You were great Dad, and I loved you Dad."

Nobody has been charged for the murder. Area Central detectives are investigating.

Andre Knight was fatally shot early Monday in the Austin community.

Police found Knight, 46, in an alley in the 4800 block of West Concord Place about 4 a.m., authorities said. He had been shot once in the back of the head, police said.

Knight, who lived on the block, was declared dead at Mount Sinai Hospital less than an hour later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area North detectives are investigating.

Andre Knight, 46, was shot early Monday in an alley near his Austin neighborhood home. Reader "Jim lemons" posted this about him:

My dude big Knight just texted me Sunday evening and he gone Monday morning (what a horrible act of violence) to a true Good life long friend of mine . RIP ANDRE KNIGHT HOYA #7 I hope they find out the truth cause this doesn't make sense