BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Nine people were killed by violence last week throughout Chicago last week.

Three of the victims were shot to death over the weekend, when at least 14 other people were wounded by gunfire.

The most recent killing happened when a 29-year-old man was shot in the face as he sat in the passenger's side of a vehicle in the 1500 block of West 72nd Place in the West Englewood neighborhood, police said. The Cook County medical examiner's office has not yet released his name.

On Saturday, 20-year-old Rayvon Little was shot multiple times while standing in the 6700 block of South Morgan Street in Englewood about 7 p.m., authorities said.

Little, who lived on the block, died just over an hour later at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to the medical examiner’s office. A 19-year-old man standing next to Little was wounded but survived, authorities said.

The 19-year-old man was shot in the leg and taken to Stroger Hospital for treatment, police said.

On Friday, 41-year-old Chinese restaurant employee Chang Z. Qui was shot about 7:10 p.m. Friday during an attempted robbery at the eatery in the 5200 block of West Madison Street, authorities said.

Qui, of the 3200 block of West Wallace Street, died about an hour later at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the medical examiner’s office.

On Wednesday, 41-year-old Pierre Peters was fatally shot inside his home in the 0 - 100 block of North Lorel Avenue in the Austin neighborhood about 2:35 p.m., authorities said.

On Tuesday, 48-year-old parolee Christian Williams fatally stabbed 53-year-old Thomas Sanchez inside a home in the 600 block of East 111th Street, prosecutors said.

Police were called to the home Wednesday and Sanchez, of the 11200 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue, was declared dead at the scene, authorities said.

Prosecutors said Williams, who was free on parole for a 1993 murder, was renting a room in the home when he let Sanchez inside and stabbed him to death.

On Monday, 25-year-old Bobby Moore was shot in the chest and neck in the 8300 block of South Kingston Avenue in the South Chicago neighborhood about 7:40 p.m., authorities said.

Moore, of the 7300 block of South Oglesby Avenue, died about an hour later at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the medical examiner’s office.

In the Chatham neighborhood, 34-year-old Darryl Owens Jr. was walking in the 800 block of East 87th Street when a gunman emerged from a gangway and shot him multiple times about 5:35 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

Owens, of the 7300 block of North Damen Avenue, died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn at 11:50 p.m. Monday, according to the medical examiner’s office.

In the Humboldt Park community, 22-year-old Owen C. Spears was shot several times in the 700 block of North Trumbull Avenue area about 4:30 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

Spears, of the 700 block of North St. Louis Avenue, died at the scene, according to the medical examiner’s office.

The killings started when 22-year-old Oduro Yeboah was shot while driving in the 4700 block of North Clarendon Avenue about noon Monday, authorities said.

Yeboah, of the 800 block of West Belle Plaine Avenue, was shot in the head, crashed the car and died the next day at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to the medical examiner's office. Another person was wounded but survived, police said.

Overall, the medical examiner’s office has ruled at least 367 Chicago deaths in 2014 a homicide — including 14 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.

An Evanston man was found fatally shot early Monday on the South Side.

Andrew Brown, 46, was found shot in the chest on a sidewalk in the 3000 block of East Cheltenham Place about 12:20 a.m., authorities said.

Brown, of the 1400 block of Chicago Avenue in Evanston, 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

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Tierra Williams was ordered held on $900,000 bond Monday after prosecutors said she drove her boyfriend to beat a man to death in the Park Manor neighborhood in March.

On March 26, Anthony Morris met Aaron Smith to buy marijuana in the 7000 block of South Vincennes Avenue, but instead Morris decided to steal “a large quantity of marijuana,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen Rogers.

Williams is Smith's girlfriend and was present for the alleged drug deal and theft, Rogers said.

After taking the drugs, Morris ran away and called a nearby friend to pick him up, Rogers said.

Williams and Smith followed Morris, and eventually Smith exited the car and began to chase him on foot while Williams continued her pursuit in the car, Rogers said.

Smith caught up with Morris and a group of his acquaintances beat Morris. When Williams arrived, she got out of the car with a baseball bat and hit Morris in the head with it at least twice, Rogers said.

When Morris attempted to crawl away, the group beat him until he laid motionless, Rogers said.

Witnesses said Smith picked up an object over the ground and used it to hit Morris in the head multiple times, Rogers said. The witnesses 911 and Morris was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Aaron Smith / Photo from Chicago Police

Morris, 27, of Jackson, Tenn., died at the hospital April 3 from complications from the head and brain injuries, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Smith, 28, of the 6500 block of South Washtenaw Avenue, was arrested in October and charged with murder, authorites said. Judge James Brown ordered him held on $1 million bond on Oct. 21.

On Nov. 1, police discovered Williams, 29, in a vehicle that matched the description of the one used during the beating. A witness identified her as the person who hit Morris in the head with the bad and she was charged with first-degree murder, authorities said.

On Monday, Judge Laura Sullivan ordered Williams, of the 6600 block of South Rockewell Street, held on $900,000 bond.

Williams will be back in court Nov. 10.

Ian Armstrong / Photo from Chicago Police

BY LEEANN SHELTON
Sun-Times Media

A Rogers Park man awaiting trial on gun charges was ordered held without bond Monday after authorities said DNA linked him to a unrelated 2013 attack where a man was fatally shot 11 times at close range while sleeping.

Ian Armstrong, 29, was charged with first-degree murder for the May 25, 2013, shooting that killed Gregory Dixon in the 1400 block of East 52nd Street in the Kenwood neighborhood, authorities said.

Dixon, 29, and a woman were sleeping in a bedroom inside a 7th-floor apartment when Armstrong and another suspect rang the buzzer, said Assistant State's Attorney Robert Mack.

Both suspects were masked and carrying loaded firearms, Mack said.

The person who lived at the apartment could not make out what was being said over the intercom, but buzzed the gunman into the building anyway, Mack said.

The tenant initially opened the apartment door, but then tried to slam it shut when he saw the two masked men rushing toward him, according to Mack, who said the armed attackers then pushed their way inside and went into the bedroom where Dixon sleeping.

Dixon was shot 11 times at close range in the head and chest, authorities said. Dixon, who lived on the block, died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The woman sleeping next to Dixon said she saw the shooters enter and leave the room, Mack said. Security cameras also captured the men entering the building and heading upstairs.

Investigators found bullets, shell casings and a trail of fresh blood drops going from the bedroom to the entrance of the apartment, Mack said.

Just over an hour after the shooting, Armstrong arrived at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn looking for treatment for a gunshot wound to his left hand, Mack said.

While at the hospital, Armstrong washed a black substance off his hand against a nurse’s orders and refused to tell Oak Lawn police how he was shot, said Mack, who added Armstrong left the hospital 17 minutes after arriving.

Authorities got a search warrant to collect DNA from Armstrong after tests determined the trail of blood drops were not from Dixon, Mack said. Nobody else was injured.

Armstrong’s DNA matched the trail of blood found at the scene and he was charged with murder, Mack said. The second suspect has not been charged.

On Monday, Judge Laura Sullivan ordered Armstrong held without bond.

Armstrong, of the 1200 block of West Loyola Avenue, was already being held in the Cook County Jail on a $50,000 bond stemming from an Oct. 18 unrelated arrest for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to court records.

He will be back in court on the murder charge Nov. 18.

Andre B. Johnson Jr. was shot to death in the West Englewood neighborhood early Sunday.

Johnson, 29, was sitting in the front passenger's seat of a vehicle parked in the 1500 block of West 72nd Street when somebody waled up an opened fire at 4:47 a.m. Sunday, authorities said.

Johnson, of an unidentified home address, was shot in the head and died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office, which ruled the death a homicide.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Doug A. Chambliss was fatally shot in the West Garfield Park neighborhood Monday morning.

Chambliss, 33, was outside in the 700 block of South Karlov Avenue when two males walked up and opened fire at 9:07 a.m. Monday, authorities said.

Chambliss, who lived on the block, was shot in the back and leg and died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, authorities said.

After the shooting, the gunmen ran away and are not in custody, police said.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Travis Wright / Photo from Instagram

BY KENNY NGUYEN
Homicide Watch Chicago

Travis Wright was always helping others.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.

Restaurant employee Chang Z. Qui was fatally shot last week during an attempted robbery at the Austin eatery. Reader "g3rm4n_chocol4t3" posted this about the killing:

Just sickening......whoever this shooter is.....GET A DAMN JOB!!!!!! Robbing and killing innocent people is not the answer. Grow a pair and go out into the world and help make it better. Condolences to the victim's family. I hope they find you and justice is swift. You don't deserve to live freely.

Dennis Anderson / Photo from Cook County Sheriff's office

BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

A Cook County Juvenile Detention Center employee was placed on electronic monitoring Wednesday for allegedly causing a deadly accident that claimed the life an off-duty Chicago Police officer over the summer.

Dennis Anderson, 51, was initially cited for operating and uninsured motor vehicle, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and improper lane usage for the July 20 wreck on the Dan Ryan Expressway.

But after additional investigations revealed that Tito M. Rodriguez Jr. was killed when Anderson tried to make an illegal exit at 71st Street, Anderson was charged with reckless homicide, Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Mack said.

Anderson was traveling south in the express lanes in his red Pontiac G5 with his sons, ages 13 and 16, when he swerved into Rodriguez’s lane that afternoon, Mack said.

Rodriguez, 28, was on his motorcycle in the local lanes with his friends and co-workers riding behind him.
The off-duty cop tried to hit his brakes in an effort to stop the collision after Anderson crossed a solid line and a median separating the local and express lanes, Mack said.

But the motorcycle hit Anderson’s car, causing Rodriguez to be thrown off his motorcycle and into the air before he landed on the pavement, Mack said.

Illinois State Police who arrived on the scene asked Anderson to submit to blood and urine testing but he allegedly refused.

An autopsy performed on Rodriguez indicated he died of multiple injuries, including skull, rib and extremity fractures, Mack said. The Cook County medical examiner's office ruled the death an accident.

Anderson’s license was suspended as a result of the crash.

He previously received supervision for failing to stop at a stop sign in Blue Island in 2013 and was convicted for speeding in Alexander County, Illinois just weeks before Rodriguez’s death.

Anderson’s attorney Robert Willis said his client -- a married father of six -- is a janitorial supervisor in the linen department at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center.

Anderson, of the 8500 block of Michigan Avenue, is also a chairman at a Local School Council and basketball coach at the Beasley Elementary School and Morgan Park High School.

Rodriguez had been with the Chicago Police Department since May 2013.

Darrell Tolbert was fatally shot in the East Garfield Park neighborhood Tuesday night.

Police found Tolbert, 36, shot in the head and chest in the 600 block of North Avers Avenue at 7:17 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said.

Tolbert, of the 800 block of West 78th Street, died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. A Wednesday autopsy confirmed he died from multiple gunshot wounds and the death was ruled a homicide.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Antonio Valentine has died from injuries he suffered during an assault in the North Lawndale neighborhood nearly three months ago.

Valentine, 34, was hit in head about 11:45 p.m. Aug. 1 in the 1900 block of South Kildare Avenue, authorities said.

He suffered swelling to the side of the face and head, and was initially taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in serious condition, police said.

Valentine, of the 6000 block of South Winchester Avenue, had been in hospice care when he died Oct. 31 at 4:18 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

A Wednesday autopsy determined he died of complications from the assault and the death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner's office.

Nobody has been charged for the attack.

Area Central detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Veronica Wilson / Photo from Chicago Police

BY KENNY NGUYEN
Homicide Watch Chicago

A mother of seven was ordered held on $800,000 bond Wednesday after prosecutors claim she fatally stabbed her boyfriend Monday on the South Side.

Authorities said 48-year-old Veronica Wilson stabbed Andrew Brown three times during an argument in the 3000 block of East Cheltenham Place about 12:20 a.m. Monday.

The exchange started in their home about two blocks away when Brown accused Wilson of cheating, said Assistant State's Attorney Lashunda Cooperwood.

Wilson then grabbed a knife and left, but Brown followed her outside and attempted to convince her to return home, Cooperwood said.

Wilson initially called 911, but hung up and then stabbed Brown three times in the chest. Brown staggered across the street and tried to hold himself up on a fence before collapsing, Cooperwood said.

Wilson then went home without calling for an ambulance, Cooperwood said.

Brown, who had defensive wounds on his hands arms, died at the scene, authorities said. Prosecutors said he was 51 years old, but the Cook County medical examiner's office said he was 46.

An passerby eventually called 911 and Wilson returned to the scene when emergency crews arrived, Cooperwood said.

Surveillance videos showed Wilson dragging Brown’s body and rummaging through his pockets as he laid on the ground, Cooperwood said.

Wilson, of the 7800 block of South Shore Drive, was charged with first-degree murder, authorities said.

On Wednesday, Judge Laura Sullivan ordered her held on $800,000 bond and issued a next court date of Nov. 2.

An assistant public defender said Wilson completed her junior year of high school and has seven children.

Gregory D. McKinney was killed in a West Garfield Park shooting Wednesday evening.

McKinney, 25, was outside in the 100 block of South Pulaski when he was shot in the back and chest about 5 p.m., police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

McKinney, of the 4000 block of West Wilcox, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 45 minutes later, the medical examiner’s office said.

An autopsy found he died of multiple gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide, the medical examiner’s office said.

Joseph Lewis died after he was shot multiple times and dropped off at a hospital early Thursday on the South Side.

Lewis, 39, was outside in the 7900 block of South Essex about 2:40 a.m. when someone began firing shots, striking him multiple times, police said.

Friends took Lewis — who lived three blocks north of the shooting — to South Shore Hospital, where was pronounced dead at 3:27 a.m., police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

A police source said the man had gang affiliations.

Lydell Lynch was fatally shot in his South Shore apartment building early Friday.

Authorities found Lynch, 22, shot multiple times in a doorway of a second-floor apartment in the 7300 block of South Blackstone Avenue about 1 a.m. Friday, authorities said.

Lynch, who lived in the building, died at Jackson Park Hospital about 2:15 a.m. Friday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.

A 15-year-old boy was shot and killed in the South Deering neighborhood Friday night.

Deon Gilbert was walking in the 10400 block of South Bensley Avenue when a dark minivan pulled up and somebody inside opened fire about 10:45 p.m. Friday, authorities said.

Gilbert, of the 8100 block of South Evans Avenue, was shot in the abdomen and later died at University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, authorities said.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

A 61-year-old man has died more than three months after he was shot at a Chatham neighborhood lounge.

James Watson, 61, was shot in the back in a lounge in the 700 block of East 83rd Street about 1:50 a.m. Aug. 2, authorities said.

Watson heard an argument and then gunshots, authorities said.

Watson, of the 7300 block of South Union Avenue, died at Rush University Medical Center at 2:03 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

An autopsy confirmed he died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide.

Two other men, 32 and 39, were also wounded in the shooting, police said. Both men survived their injuries.

Area South detectives are investigating.

Giovanni Galindo / Photo from Dignity Memorial

BY TINA SFONDELES
Chicago Sun-Times

A 16-year-old boy who allegedly shot a drug dealer to death during a robbery near Midway Airport in September was ordered held without bond on Saturday, the Sun-Times is reporting.

Pedro Corral is the second to be charged with the Sept. 5 murder of Giovanni Galindo, 24, of the 10300 block of South Karlov Avenue in Oak Lawn.

Corral was arrested Thursday while performing community service at a Burbank church, authorities said.

Corral was identified as the shooter by a witness, authorities said.

Luis Alfaro is also charged with murder for allegedly setting up the drug deal. Alfaro is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Alfaro was contacted by an acquaintance, who told him he planned to rob a drug dealer, prosecutors said.

The acquaintance asked Alfaro to set up a drug deal and promised to give Alfaro marijuana in return for setting up the robbery, prosecutors said.

Alfaro set up the fake drug deal for later that day in the 6100 block of South Kilpatrick Avenue.

The dealer went inside after Alfaro and Corral urged him to show them the drugs, prosecutors said.

During that meeting, Corral pulled out a gun and shot Galindo, prosecutors said Saturday.

The robbers fled with the drugs and later gave Alfaro some of the cannabis as payment for setting up the deal, prosecutors said.

Alfaro, of the 4100 block of West 57th Place, told police he set up the drug deal knowing about the robbery plan and was charged with first-degree murder despite not being at the scene, authorities said.

The other suspects have not yet been charged, authorities said.

Johnathan Cartwright was fatally shot Saturday evening in the Chatham community.

Officers responding to a call of a person shot in the 800 block of East 87th Place found Cartwright, 18, unresponsive on a sidewalk, authorities said.

Cartwright was shot in the head and died at the scene, authorities said. His home address was unknown Sunday evening.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating if the shooting is gang related.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Scene where Luis Zugina was shot / Photo by Ashlee Rezin

BY ASHLEE REZIN
Sun-Times Media

A man coming back from church was shot and killed outside his home Sunday afternoon in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood on the Northwest Side, Chicago Police and family members said.

Police said the 44-year-old man was shot about 2:20 p.m. in the 2800 block of North Lotus Avenue.

Family members — who identified the man as Luis Zuniga — said he had pulled up to his driveway after returning home from church and was getting out of his white minivan when someone in a parked vehicle fired shots. Police said the shooter then drove off.

Zuniga was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene, according to police and family members. The Cook County medical examiner’s office could not confirm the fatality Sunday afternoon.

Eric Salvado, 21, who said he is Zuniga’s brother-in-law, said Zuniga liked fixing cars and was a “really nice guy.”

“I don’t know why this happened,” Salvado said. “This is the first time someone close to me died so I don’t know what to think.”

Zuniga’s two daughters and stepson were among at least a dozen family members at the scene Sunday afternoon.

“I don’t know why anyone would do this,” Salvado said.

Victor Nevarez, 50, who has lived a block away from the shooting location for more than four years, said the neighborhood is normally quiet.

“This is a safe neighborhood,” he said, adding that he goes jogging down Lotus almost every day. “I’m surprised to see this going on.”