Juan Mercado was shot to death in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood Sunday evening.

Mercado, 25, was sitting on a front porch in the 2300 block of North Melvina Avenue when he was shot in the lower left side about 6:45 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

Mercado, of the 2200 block of North Mulligan Avenue, was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he died 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.

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

At least eight men were murdered throughout Chicago last week.

Three of the victims were fatally shot over the weekend, when at least 17 other people were wounded by gunfire.

The most recent killing happened when 20-year-old Juan Mercado was shot while sitting on a front porch in the 2300 block of North Melvina Avenue in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood about 6:45 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

Mercado, of the 2200 block of North Mulligan Avenue, was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he died less than an hour later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

On Saturday, 22-year-old Eddie Taylor was shot when an argument started at a party in the 4400 block of West Madison Street in West Garfield Park about 1:10 a.m., authorities said.

Taylor, 22, of the 1900 block of South Homan Avenue, was shot in the face and died at the scene, authorities said. Three other people were wounded in the shooting.

On Friday, 20-year-old Roddy Comer was shot near South Carpenter Street and West 88th Street in Auburn Gresham about 10:50 p.m., authorities said.

Comer, 20, of the 7100 block of South Maplewood Avenue, was shot in the back and buttocks and died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn early Saturday, authorities said. A 16-year-old boy was also wounded but survived.

On Thursday, prosecutors claim Shawanda Swain stabbed her boyfriend, 23-year-old Damani Chenier, during a domestic fight in her home the 5100 block of South Hyde Park Boulevard about 3:10 a.m.

Chenier, of the 10000 block of South Vernon Avenue, died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about an hour later, according to the medical examiner’s office said.

Swain, 21, was charged Friday with first-degree murder and ordered held on $500,000 bond.

On Wednesday, 52-year-old Larry Lee was was shot in the 700 block of South Springfield Avenue in the West Garfield Park neighborhood about 10:30 p.m., authorities said. Witnesses told police they heard shots and saw the man lying on the ground, police said.

Lee, of the 3800 block of West Polk Street, died at Mount Sinai Hospital less than an hour later, according to the medical examiner’s office.

On Tuesday, 22-year-old Jackie Roberson was shot in the head while walking in the 10700 block of South Wentworth Avenue in Roseland about 12:10 p.m., authorities said.

Roberson, of the 10600 block of South Wentworth Avenue, died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn at 2:39 p.m. Wednesday, according to the medical examiner's office.

On Tuesday, Daniel Brown allegedly fatally shot 42-year-old Daniel Jackson during a standoff with police in the 7200 block of South Lowe Avenue, authorities said.

Brown, 42, is also accused of shooting a Chicago Police captain during the standoff in the Englewood neighborhood and is being held without bond.

The killings started when 37-year-old Torrente Pickens was shot multiple times inside a vehicle in the 100 block of East 44th Street about 5:30 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

Pickens, of the 3400 block of South King Drive, was dead at the scene, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Additionally, an unidentified teenager died last Monday from a gunshot to the head he suffered Oct. 4 in the 5400 block of South Talman Avenue, authorities said. Officers found the boy shot in the street and he remains unidentified.

Overall, the medical examiner’s office has ruled at least 340 Chicago deaths in 2014 a homicide — including 12 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.

Steven LaVoie

BY JON SEIDEL
Homicide Watch Chicago

The Loop CEO shot by a recently demoted executive in July has died, according to an online journal maintained by his family.

The entry announcing Steven LaVoie’s death appears on the website CaringBridge.org. Jody LaVoie, his wife, is listed as its author.

“I am writing to let you know that Steve’s body has succumbed to his numerous injuries,” she wrote. “I had truly hoped to tell a different story now about his recovery, and for so long I believed he would be with us again. But know that the man you all remember so dearly, fought so bravely. Steve brought great dignity and beauty to all of our lives these past months.”

LaVoie was shot on July 31 by Tony DeFrances, who police said had recently been demoted.

LaVoie and DeFrances were meeting in LaVoie’s office on July 31 when co-workers outside heard shouts and three or four gunshots, according to a police source.

DeFrances, 60, shot LaVoie in the stomach and head before turning the gun on himself, police said. DeFrances was demoted July 25 from his position as chief technology officer, according to police.

Anthony Edwards, 39, was fatally shot in July at a West Pullman gas station. Reader "Keya" posted this about him:

God sees ALL.....R.I.P. Tony......we love you & you'll be forever missed! I'll NEVER let our daughter forget you!

BY SUN-TIMES STAFF

A man found dismembered in a Southeast Side garage this month has been positively identified as a missing man, and his death has been ruled a homicide.

The dismembered body of Milan Lekich, 51, was discovered wrapped in plastic and a blanket in a garage in the 13300 block of South Avenue M about 3:20 p.m. on Oct. 5, according to according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office and Chicago Police.

An autopsy found Lekich died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head and his death has been ruled a homicide, a spokesman for the medical examiner’s office said Tuesday.

A woman who called police reported a strange smell coming from the garbage in the garage of the Hegewisch home, according to a police source. The woman looked inside the garbage bag and found the man’s remains.

Police issued a missing person report for Lekich that said he had last been seen in June 2013 and possibly could be in Florida or Indiana. According to that report, Lekich’s last known residence was on the block where his remains were later found.

Part of the search for Lekich, 51, involved trying to talk to his estranged and now-deceased wife, Teresa Jarding, who had been living in Fowler, Indiana, 100 miles south of Chicago. Jarding, 49, and Lekich married in Las Vegas in March 2013, according to court records.

Jarding’s mother, Nena Metoyer, is also missing. She had been staying with her daughter, according to Fowler police. Metoyer, 68, came up from her home in Florida to take care her of her daughter and hasn’t been seen since August.

Chicago Police said Tuesday morning no arrests had been made in connection with Lekich’s death.

Milan Lekich / Photo from Chicago Police

BY SUN-TIMES STAFF

An Indiana woman central to a bizarre murder mystery with Chicago ties committed suicide, a coroner said Wednesday.

Teresa Jarding died of “acute mixed-drug toxicity” and her manner of death was suicide, Tippecanoe County (Ind.) Coroner Donna Hart Avolt said. But she refused to elaborate on the results of toxicology testing on Jarding’s remains.

“This is a family that is just reeling from the shock of everything that has gone on,” Avolt said. “So I will not elaborate any more than that.”

She said she promised the family she wouldn’t say anything further. “And also, I don’t have to,” she told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Police in Fowler, Ind., found the remains of a white woman Saturday at Jarding’s former residence. That revelation came after Cook County authorities identified Tuesday the remains of Milan Lekich— a man Jarding purportedly married in Las Vegas. They were found Oct. 5 in Lekich’s garage in Hegewisch on Chicago’s Southeast Side.

Authorities wanted to question Jarding, 49, about Lekich’s disappearance. But when they finally made contact with Jarding at her home on Sept. 24, she was near death with a gun by her side, Fowler police said last week. Jarding was taken to an Indiana hospital, where she died from a brain hemorrhage the next day.

Soon after she died, authorities learned that her mother — who was in town from Florida to take care of the ailing Jarding — had been missing since August.

Fowler police would not say if the remains found at Jarding’s house belonged to her 68-year-old mother, Nena Metoyer. But they did say that the woman died from a gunshot wound to the head and classified her death as a homicide. Further DNA testing is needed to determine her identity, Fowler police said in an emailed statement.

The dismembered body of Lekich, 51, was found wrapped in plastic and a blanket in a garage in the 13300 block of South Avenue M, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office and Chicago Police.

An autopsy found Lekich died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head and his death has been ruled a homicide, according to a spokesman for the medical examiner’s office.

A woman who called police reported a strange smell coming from the garbage in the garage of the Hegewisch home, according to a police source.

The woman looked inside the garbage bag and found the man’s remains. Police issued a missing person report for Lekich that said he had last been seen in June 2013 and possibly could be in Florida or Indiana.

According to that report, Lekich’s last known residence was on the block where his remains were later found.

Part of the search for Lekich involved trying to talk to Jarding, who had moved to Fowler, about 100 miles south of Chicago. Jarding and Lekich married in Las Vegas in March 2013, according to Nevada court records. However, Cook County court records indicate Jarding was in the midst of a still-pending divorce at the time.

Chicago Police said Tuesday morning no arrests had been made in connection with Lekich’s death.

ArrowStream CEO Steven LaVoie was shot at his Loop office July 31 and died this month. Reader "Georgette N." posted this about him:

To the LaVoie Family, of Chicago, Illinois and also Sonoma, California: Please accept my sincere condolences on the loss of Steven. I went to high school with him here in California, and I remember him as a real bright light in our class. A smart, funny, and kind person. He was an "old soul" in a young man's body, and that's meant in good way. Steve carried a briefcase around with him at Sonoma High, and it was his trademark. We were all just kids then, looking forward to our futures. Steve will be missed by many and will be remembered with fondness. Please take some comfort in knowing that he is now with God -- and he is whole, happy, and free.

Shandel Adams / Photo from Instagram

BY KENNY NGUYEN
Homicide Watch Chicago

Shandel Adams once broke his ankle playing football on Thanksgiving, but the constant jokester maintained his sense of humor all the way to the emergency room.

“He was a jokester, he got that from me,” said Adams' brother, Johnny Adams. “He was cheerful and happy. He wasn’t a down type of person, and he wouldn’t allow you to be down around him because he was full of life.”

Shandel Adams, 25, won't be around this Thanksgiving after he was fatally shot in the 600 block of North Ridgeway Avenue in the Humboldt Park community early Sept. 30, authorities said.

Johnny Adams said his brother was returning from a friend’s home when he was shot. After the gunfire erupted, those friends came running and found Shandel Adams on the ground, his brother said.

“During that moment, I was thinking OK, he will be alright ... Maybe he got shot in the arm or leg or something,” his brother said. "There wasn’t any urgency in my mom’s voice, so I was thinking he all right.”

Shandel Adams, of the 5400 block of West Van Buren Street, died later that day at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Johnny Adams said his brother was raised to respect his elders and he lived a “nice life.”

"Everybody who came in contact with him, he would just put a smile on their face,” his brother said.

Johnny Adams said his brother was “spoiled to the max” as a child and played Xbox and PlayStation video games.

As an adult, Shandel Adams cared for his child and helped raise his fiance's two children, his brother said. His fiance is pregnant with Shandel Adams second child, he said.

“It’s amazing how I see him grow into a young man like that,” Johnny Adams said. "He took them under his wings and they called him daddy. It’s amazing how I see him grow into a young man like that -- especially to take responsibilities for another man. That’s very manly in itself.”

Shandel Adams was buried Oct. 9 and the support was so overwhelming that mourners had to stand in a line that stretched around the walls of the church, Johnny Adams said.

“He touched and affected a lot of people's lives, which is a good thing,” his brother said. "We just have to continue to pray for my mom as she continues to deal with this situation because no parents should have to bury their child. Every child should have to bury their parent. That’s the way it should go.”

A man found dead in a garbage bin in the Jefferson Park neighborhood Tuesday morning was beaten and strangled.

A janitor at Northwestern Business College found the body in a school garbage bin in the 4800 block of North Lipps Avenue about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, according to a police report and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The man, believed to be in his 40s, remained unidentified Thursday.

An autopsy determined the man died of multiple injuries from beating and strangulation, and his death was ruled a homicide, according to a medical examiner’s office spokesman.

Nobody has been charged for the murder, but a police source said one person is in custody.

Area North detectives are investigating.

BY KALEY FOWLER
Homicide Watch Chicago

While murders in Chicago have been steadily declining for nearly 25 years, those getting killed has remained relatively unchanged.

Chicago Police reported 928 murders in 1991 -- and nearly 36 percent of the deceased were between the ages of 17 and 25, according to police data.

By 2000, the total number of murders in Chicago had decreased to 633, according to police data. Nearly 43 percent of the victims were between 17 and 25.

In 2013, the Cook County medical examiner's office reported 441 homicides, and nearly 42 percent were between 17 and 25 years old.

Since 1991, the 17 to 25 age group has been the greatest percentage of murder victims every single year.

“Homicides have gone down in every way -- for young people and old people, for males and females, for whites and blacks,” said Dave Olson, a criminal justice professor at Loyola University. “But some groups have seen a larger decline than others. The toughest group to get a reduction seems to be the 17 to 25 age group.”

While the percentage of 17- to 25-year-old victims has not changed much, Olson noted there still has been an overall reduction in the total number of victims in this age group.

In 1991, Chicago Police reported 330 victims between 17 and 25. In 2001, that number fell to 285. By 2011, it was down to 196.

In the first nine months of 2014, the medical examiner's office reported 135 homicides in the 17 to 25 age group -- about 42 percent of the 318 total homicides through September 2014.

“Homicides have changed a lot in terms of number, but the reason it hasn’t changed as a percent of all murders gets into the complicated issue of the types of homicides that young people are likely to be involved in and the degree to which those homicides can be reduced or addressed through policy changes,” Olson said.

Wesley Skogan, a professor of political science at Northwestern University's Institute for Policy Research, noted that as teenagers get older they disconnect from their parents and care more about what their friends think, which is partially responsible for increase participation in violence as people enter their teen years.

Since 1991, the total number of murder victims between the ages of 10 and 13 has reached double-digits just three times -- all in the early '90s when the murder total was greater, according to police data.

In 2004, there were zero murders in the 10 to 13 age group and in 2013 there was just one, according to data from police and the medical examiner's office.

The murder totals jump drastically in the 14 to 16 age group. In 1993, 79 children between 14 and 16 were murdered -- more than 9 percent of all murders, according to police data.

Since 2009, there have been between 20 and 30 children killed each year between the ages of 14 and 16 -- about 5.5 percent of all murders, according to data from police and the medical examiner's office.

Of the 318 homicides through September 2014, 26 were 14 to 16 years old. Only three were of between the ages of 10 and 13.

Olson said the sudden jump in the number of murder victims between these two age groups is attributable to the age-crime curve.

“Regardless of what form of criminal behavior you’re looking at, there is a large increase in participation between early adolescence and the teen years,” Olson said. “Involvement in crime increases, and so does involvement in homicides.”

Gary Slutkin, founder of CeaseFire, said teens are biologically inclined to seek out risky behavior. Slutkin noted that the frontal lobe -- the part of the brain that controls judgment -- isn't very developed in teens, which means they are less likely to consider the future consequences of their actions.

“Adolescents are programmed to be more concerned about what their friends think than they are concerned about what's going to happen to them in the future,” Slutkin said. “These circumstances are why people end up going to prison or dying when they weren't thinking about prison or dying. They were unconsciously concerned about what their friends thought because that's the way they're wired.”

Olson said understanding the root cause of murders is the first step in combating the homicide rate among any demographic.

“When we look at crime trends over time, trends in murders follow trends in burglaries, theft and all the other crimes,” Olson said. “To understand homicide and reasons behind it, you have to understand the reasons behind crime, because homicides are the outcome of other forms of crime.”

A significant number of homicides committed against people in their late teens and early 20s are the result of gang violence, Skogan said.

“Chicago has a large, strong nasty, gang structure quite different from say New York or Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, and that’s a big link to the homicides,” Skogan said. “Gangs are an obvious nexus between young men and guns and also a motive for using guns. These guys shoot each other over things that make you want to put your head on the table and cry. It's a deep cultural thing, and that's the problem.”

Alexander D. Smith was killed in a South Shore shooting that also left a 14-year-old boy injured Thursday afternoon.

Smith and the teen were shot in the 7500 block of South Colfax Avenue about 2:45 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

Smith, 25, was shot multiple times and was dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The boy suffered a graze wound to the ankle and thigh, police said. He was taken to South Shore Hospital for treatment.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Rodney Wilson was stabbed to death during a domestic fight in the Austin neighborhood.

Wilson, 30, was stabbed in the 5100 block of West Fulton Street about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

He and a woman were arguing when she pulled out a knife and stabbed him multiple times, police said.

Wilson was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

The woman was taken into custody, but no charges had been filed as of Friday afternoon, police said.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Jake Tate / Photo from Chicago Police

BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

A 45-year-old homeless man was strangled, beaten and sodomized by three other vagrants because one of the attackers thought he had stolen his cell phone, prosecutors said Friday.

After Joseph Kamen was repeatedly stomped on, he was thrown into a Dumpster on the Northwest Side sometime between Monday night and early Tuesday morning, authorities said.

His badly injured body was discovered by a resident the next day.

The deadly attack was initiated after 27-year-old Jake Tate accused Kamen of stealing his mobile phone, Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen Rogers said.

Tate vowed to beat and sodomize Kamen and was later overheard telling his friend Todd Cooper how he was going to stomp on Kamen’s face, Rogers said.

When Cooper later saw Kamen sleeping in the doorway of an alley in the 4800 block of North Lipps Avenue he summoned Tate and together the pair dragged Kamen’s body into an alley, Rogers said.

There, as Cooper watched, Tate allegedly kicked Kamen’s head, face and body until Kamen wasn’t moving.

Cooper and Tate walked a few feet away to talk to their other pal, Daniel Morris, when Kamen tried getting up and set off motion sensor lights in the alley, Rogers said.

Todd Cooper / Photo from Chicago Police

Upon seeing the lights activated, the trio charged at Kamen and beat him up together, Rogers said.

This time, Cooper, 35, joined Tate in kicking and punching Kamen, Rogers said.

Morris, 20, allegedly punched, choked and sat on Kamen.

That’s when Tate pulled down Kamen’s pants and sodomized him with a stick, Rogers said.

The three men pulled a Dumpster into the alley, threw Kamen inside and then rolled the Dumpster back to its original location, Rogers said.

But they weren’t done, prosecutors said.

Morris climbed in and allegedly stomped on Kamen some more and hit his head and body with a large rock or brick.

The three men then fled, taking Kamen’s backpack with them, Rogers said.

The entire beating was captured on surveillance video from a nearby business and Morris and Cooper allegedly identified themselves on tape and admitted to their roles in the murder.

Morris, who wore a Bears jersey in court Friday, was apprehended this week when police questioned him about an armed robbery.

“I know this is not about the robbery. I know this is about the body in the Dumpster. I was there,” a police report said Morris told officers.

Morris banged his head on the squad car several times as officers arrested him, the report said.

Tate was arrested near the Jefferson Park Transit Center and Cooper was arrested at Wilbur Wright College, a school he frequently visits, their police reports said.

Daniel Morris / Photo from Chicago Police

Prosecutors said the three men were homeless but an assistant public defender said Cooper lives with his father.

The former U.S. Marine’s last known address was in Harwood Heights.

Cooper is bipolar and has had past jobs driving a taxi and digging ditches, the assistant public defender said.

Mooris and Tate are suicidal and take medication, the defense attorney said.

Tate, who has several tattoos including one that reads “100% white,” is a single father and works as a mover.

His last known address was in the 4900 block of West Argyle Street.

Morris’ last lived in Bolingbrook, court records show.

Tate has felony convictions for burglary and aggravated battery.

Morris has three misdemeanor battery convictions and Cooper has a disorderly conduct conviction.

Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil ordered the three men held in lieu of $2 million bond Friday.

Erick Horton / Photo from Chicago Police

BY LEEANN SHELTON
Sun-Times Media

Erick T. Horton has been charged with murder in the September shooting death of Nigell Vazquez in the Chatham neighborhood.

Vazquez, 22, was standing on a porch in the 8600 block of South Ingleside Avenue when two people walked up and started shooting about 8:30 p.m. Sept. 4, authorities said.

Vazquez, of the 1700 block of East 56th Street, was shot twice in the back and died about an hour later at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, authorities said.

Horton, 34, of the 10800 block of South Edbrooke Avenue, was charged on Friday with first-degree murder and is scheduled to appear in court Saturday for a bond hearing, police said.

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

Genorel Martin was fatally shot in the West Englewood neighborhood early Saturday.

Martin, 24, was opening the door to his apartment building in the 6700 block of South Throop Street when a gunman approached about 1 a.m. and shot him near the vestibule, authorities said.

Martin died at the scene, 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

Alexandra Burgos was fatally shot in a Belmont Cragin apartment early Sunday.

Burgos, 18, was sitting in the apartment in the 5300 block of West Oakdale Avenue when shots were fired outside about 12:35 a.m., authorities said.

At least one of the bullets entered the apartment and Burgos was struck in the head, 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.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Erika Jett / Photo from Cook County Sheriff's office

BY BRIAN SLODYSKO
Chicago Sun-Times

Erika Jett was ordered held on $500,000 bond Sunday after prosecutors claimed she fatally stabbed her boyfriend during a Thursday night fight in the Austin neighborhood.

Jett, 29, and her 30-year-old boyfriend, Rodney Wilson, got in a heated argument on Thursday night at their home in the 5100 block of West Fulton Street, said Assistant State’s Attorney Andres Almendarez.

The couple shouted at each other and exchanged blows in front of Wilson’s children before someone in the home eventually removed the kids from the room, prosecutors said.

But once the kids were gone, the dispute escalated. Jett grabbed a knife and attacked Wilson, stabbing him in his arm, chest and neck, prosecutors said. A witness at the home eventually persuaded Jett to drop the knife and then called 911, prosecutors said.

Wilson was lying on the floor of the residence, bleeding profusely, when first responders arrived, and Jett admitted stabbing him, according to a police report.

Wilson was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died within an hour, authorities said.

Jett was charged with murder and on Sunday she was ordered held on $500,000 bond and will be back in court Monday.

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 Alexandra 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 Kamen 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 Kamen 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 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