Christopher Garcia / Photo from Chicago Police

BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

A 26-year-old felon charged in the murder of a rival allegedly admitted to police that he came to victim’s South Side apartment armed with a weapon to help get back items he said the man ripped off from his friend.

Christopher Garcia and others confronted Derrick McIntyre after McIntyre came back to his apartment in the 7800 block of South Coles Avenue following a food run at a corner store Tuesday morning, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Barry Quinn said.

The agitated group told McIntyre, 26, to let them in the apartment to take back some property.

But McIntyre refused, authorities said.

“I’m not gonna let you in my apartment take what you want because my girl and my baby are in there,” McIntyre’s pregnant girlfriend heard him say.

The girlfriend looked through the peephole outside the first floor unit and saw a man holding a gun to McIntyre, Quinn said.

The girlfriend grabbed her phone, called 911 and took her child through the backdoor toward a neighbor’s apartment across the courtyard, Quinn said.

When the girlfriend arrived at the neighbor’s door, she heard gunshots, Quinn said.

She then saw the man she had seen earlier with the gun running across the courtyard without the weapon, Quinn said. She also said she saw two others emerge from the hallway near her front door.

Chicago Police officers responding to the robbery in progress saw 26-year-old Garcia running southbound on Coles Avenue and hopping over a fence as he headed toward an abandoned building, Quinn said.

He was later found hiding underneath a tarp just 1 1/2 blocks from the crime scene. Garcia’s hooded sweatshirt and white knit cap were also in a nearby yard, Quinn said.

McIntyre was discovered near his bathroom floor with seven gunshot wounds to his left hand, wrist, torso, back and chest, Quinn said.

He was later pronounced dead at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.

Garcia, of the 8000 block of South South Shore Drive, allegedly admitted to police that he had opened fire on McIntyre.

He was also caught on surveillance camera entering the apartment courtyard before the shooting and his right hand tested positive for gunshot residue, Quinn said.

Garcia, who has a 9-year-old child, was ordered held without bond Thursday for first-degree murder, murder while committing another forcible felony and attempted robbery with the discharge of a firearm.

Garcia has previous felony conviction for a possession of a controlled substance and burglary.

Randy James, 39, was fatally shot Jan. 3 in the Austin community. Reader "angelique" posted this about him:

I knew this man he was a good man he was a good husband to his wifey i really hate that this happen to james my prayer goes out to his family u will b never forgotten

Darriel Woods was killed in a Back of the Yards neighborhood shooting that left another man wounded Wednesday night.

Woods, 40, was in the 5000 block of South Racine Avenue when a gunman exited a vehicle and opened fire about 6:40 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

Woods, of the 5600 block of South Bishop Street, was shot in the chest multiple times and died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County about an hour later, authorities said.

A 25-year-old man inside a home in the nearby 5000 block of South Elizabeth Street was shot in the leg by a bullet from the gunfire that erupted on Racine Avenue, police said.

The 25-year-old was taken to Saint Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center for treatment, police said.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area Central detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Dantis Porter / Photo from Chicago Police

BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

Dantis Porter brutally beat his girlfriend’s one-year-old son so severely, part of the toddler’s skull broke off in the medical examiner’s hand during the autopsy examination, prosecutors said Friday.

When Johnny Kimble was taken to University of Chicago Comer’s Children’s Hospital on the night of Jan. 6, he had skull fractures, severe brain injury, a lacerated liver, a rib fracture, pulmonary contusions and adrenal hemorrhage, Assistant State’s Attorney Enrique Abraham said.

The 17-month-old boy also had multiple burns on his body, authorities said.

Earlier that evening, Porter called 911 at his girlfriend’s insistence after she came home in the 1100 block of West Marquette Road and found Johnny slumped over in his stroller, Abraham said.

Porter had been babysitting Johnny and three other children—ages 2, 4 and 5—between 9:30 a.m. and 7:15 p.m. while his girlfriend was at work, Abraham said.

Porter, 28, allegedly admitted to police he repeatedly hit Johnny because he had been crying and wouldn’t stop.

Porter told authorities he struck the baby with his hands three times, Abraham said.

The first two times, Johnny fell on the floor and got back up, weeping. But the third time Porter smacked him with his hand, Johnny hit his head against a bedroom door frame, Abraham said.

Porter took the child and placed him on a loveseat before putting him in the stroller where he was discovered unresponsive, Abraham said.

Johnny never regained consciousness while he was at the pediatric intensive care unit. He died three days later.

The medical examiner found that Johnny’s posterior skull fracture wrapped around his head and his brain was acutely swollen, Abraham said.

The bones in his skull were spreading apart, causing bleeding.

Johnny died from the closed head wounds he received as a result of blunt force trauma to his head along with his other injuries, Abraham said.

Porter was initially ordered held without bond for aggravated battery to a child.

Charges were upgraded against Porter after Johnny died.

According to an assistant public defender Porter is disabled and has a rod in one of his legs.

Anfernee Durant was fatally shot in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood Friday night.

Durant, 19, was shot multiple times during a drive-by shooting in the 7800 block of South Vincennes Avenue about 6:20 p.m., authorities said.

Durant, of the 7800 block of South Loomis Boulevard, died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn about an hour later, 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

Tyree D. Harris was shot to death in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood Friday night.

Harris, 18, was standing outside in the 6800 block of South Western Avenue when a gunman walked up and shot him in the head about 6:15 p.m. Friday, authorites said.

Harris, of an unidentified home address, was declared dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn at 8:18 p.m. Friday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Detectives are investigating if the shooting is gang related.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

A north suburban man was shot to death in the West Garfield Park neighborhood early Saturday.

Police found Arturo Olivera inside a vehicle near North Kenton and West End avenues about 2 a.m. Saturday, authorities said.

Further investigation revealed Olivera, believed to be in his 20s, had been shot multiple times, authorthies said. Olivera, of the 800 block of Thornwood Lane in Glenview, was declared dead at the scene.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago

Seven men were shot to death throughout Chicago last week.

Three of the killing happened over the weekend, when at least 23 other people were wounded by gunfire.

The most recent killing happened when Arturo Olivera was found shot in a vehicle near North Kenton and West End avenues about 2 a.m. Saturday, authorities said.

Olivera, of the 800 block of Thornwood Lane in Glenview, was declared dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office, which did not release his exact age.

On Friday, 19-year-old Anfernee Durant was shot multiple times during a drive-by shooting in the 7800 block of South Vincennes Avenue about 6:20 p.m., authorities said.

Durant, of the 7800 block of South Loomis Boulevard, died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn about an hour later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

In the Chicago Lawn community, 18-year-old Tyree D. Harris was in the 6800 block of South Western Avenue when a gunman walked up and shot him in the head about 6:15 p.m. Friday, authorities said.

Harris, of an unidentified home address, died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn about two hours later, according to the medical examiner’s office.

On Wednesday, 40-year-old Darriel Woods was in the 5000 block of South Racine Avenue when a gunman exited a vehicle and opened fire about 6:40 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

Woods, of the 5600 block of South Bishop Street, was shot in the chest multiple times and died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County about an hour later, authorities said. A 25-year-old man was also wounded, but survived, police said.

In the Chicago Lawn, 19-year-old Edwin Cook was shot multiple times on a sidewalk in the 6600 block of South Oakley Avenue about 9 a.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

Cook, of the 6600 block of South Bell Avenue, died at the scene, according to the medical examiner's office.

In the New City community, four males approached a home in the 5300 block of South May Street, knocked on the door and shot 25-year-old Heath Huntspon when he answered about 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

Huntspon was shot once in the chest and died at the scene, authorities said.

The killing started when Christopher Garcia went to 26-year-old Derrick McIntyre's apartment in the 7800 block of South Coles Avenue and fatally shot him about 10:10 a.m. Tuesday, authorities said.

McIntyre was declared dead less than an hour later at Christ Medical Center, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Prosecutors claim Garcia, of the 8000 block of South South Shore Drive, admitted to police he went to McIntyre’s home armed with a weapon to help get back items he said the man ripped off from his friend.

Additionally, charges were upgraded to murder Friday against 28-year-old Dantis Porter after prosecutors said he brutally beat 1-year-old Johnny Kimble on Jan. 6. The child died Jan. 9, and Porter was ordered held without bond on the upgraded murder charges.

Overall, the medical examiner’s office has ruled at least 23 Chicago deaths in 2015 a homicide.

Authorities claimed James Gonnigan accidentally shot and killed his friend Marsalis Holman in their North Lawndale home on Jan. 4. Reader Tilden 2007 posted this about the killing:

I am really sorry this happen to you James, I know you are a good person and this was just a simple mistake. I know it really hurts that you lost your best friend, and now his blood is on your hand. My prayers are to you and to him and his family. I understand people make mistakes and this by far is the worst of them all. I pray that you do not have to live the rest of your life in jail for a simple mistake. I hope the Justice system see you for who you are and not as a killer. Mistake are made on a daily, and I know you have already learned from it. You lost your beloved friend and I am truly sorry for your lost. #2007 #Tilden #Chicago #JamesGonnigan #r.i.p

Charles Johnson / Photo from Chicago Police

BY REEMA AMIN
Sun-Times Media

Charles L. Johnson was denied bond Tuesday after prosecutors said he fled to Iowa after fatally shooting Lydell Lynch inside a South Shore apartment in November 2014.

On Nov. 7, 2014, Johnson was in the 7300 block of South Blackstone Avenue when a 19-year-old man left a party and asked Johnson for a cigarette, said Assistant State's Attorney Enrique Abraham.

Johnson then pushed past the man and went into the party looking for his girlfriend, Abraham said.

Inside, Johnson found the 22-year-old Lynch in the dining room and shot him multiple times in chest, authorities said.

The 19-year-old who asked for a cigarette then tried to take the gun from Johnson, but the 19-year-old was shot during the struggle, Abraham said.

Lynch, who lived on the block, was taken to Jackson Park Hospital, where he died about 45 minutes later, according the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The 19-year-old survived his injuries.

Lydell Lynch / Photo from Facebook

Police recovered the gun and five shell casings, Abraham said.

The 19-year-old later identified Johnson in a photo array, Abraham said. Johnson, 22, was arrested on murder charges Jan. 13 in Iowa City, Iowa and was extradited to Chicago on Monday, police said.

On Tuesday, Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. ordered Johnson held without bond.

“You walk into an apartment and start shooting ... you are a danger,” Bourgeois said.

Johnson lives with his mother in the 6400 block of South Ellis Avenue and with his girlfriend in the 3900 block of West Van Buren Street, according to an assistant public defender. Before being arrested, Johnson worked at a factory and completed his sophomore year at South Shore High School.

Johnson was previously sentenced to four years in prison for a 2010 robbery and two years probation for aggravated battery to a peace officer, court records show.

Johnson will be back in court Feb. 17.

Joe Bennett and Corie Williams were fatally shot Jan. 5 in a South Shore shooting that also left a teenage boy wounded. Reader "Missy" posted this about the killings:

I hope the young man that survived can identify that criminal.

Angelo Porter was fatally shot in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.

Porter, 23, was walking in the 600 block of East 51st Street when a gunman approached from behind and shot him in the head about 1:40 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said.

Porter, of an unidentified home address, later died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area Central detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

BY KENNY NGUYEN
Homicide Watch Chicago

While Chicago has seen a steady decline in murders since the turn of the century, where those killings happen have remained relatively unchanged.

Chicago Police reported 6,944 murders between 2001 and 2014, according to city data. About 78 percent of those killed happened outside.

In 2001, about 75 percent of the city's 666 murders happened outdoors. In 2005, the total number of killings fell to 453, with about 77 percent happening outside. In 2009, 81 percent of the city's 459 slayings happened outdoors.

In 2014, Chicago recorded 415 murders -- including some people who died in 2014 from injuries suffered in previous years -- and about 81 percent happened outside, according to city data. Chicago Police count murders in the year the person was shot, not the year they died, per federal reporting guidelines.

"One thing you have to think about is the location of a homicide. That will tell you about the nature of the homicide, or the underlying cause of a homicide," said David Olson, a criminal justice professor at Loyola University. "So when you think about homicides that occur indoors -- those tend to be domestic-related incidents where intimate partners are killing each other. Something on the street is potentially more likely to involve a gang altercation or a robbery that escalates to a homicide."

Olsen suggested outdoor killings are often caused by disputes over gang turf and drug territory, or retaliation for other previous shootings.

However, Robert Lombardo, an Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Loyola University, said not all the outdoor shootings are about gang or drug disputes and they can often start with personal insults.

"Kids from those neighborhoods fight over stupid things over Facebook. Its just insulting people as opposed to organized gang activity," Lombardo said. "Sure it might be gang related, but it's typically just instrumental violence. It’s not for purpose -- it’s for dumb stuff. Things like your girlfriend's ugly or you got a crappy looking car or you ain't s - - - and we are tougher than you are."

A Homicide Watch Chicago analysis of city data found a majority of outdoor homicides were classified as happening on the street, in an automobile or in a house or apartment.

Of the 666 homicides in 2001, 35 percent happened on the street, 17 percent happened in an automobile and 12 percent happened in a house or apartment, according to police data.

In 2005, 47 percent of the slayings happened on the street, 15 percent happened in an apartment or house and 12 percent in an automobile.

Since 2001, police reported the lowest percentage of killings inside a house or apartment in 2011, when about 12 percent of the total slayings happened indoors. During that year, about 52 percent of slayings were reported as happening on the street and about 12 percent in an automobile.

In 2014, the city recorded its lowest numbers for automobile homicides. About 7 percent of the killings happened in an automobile, while about 56 percent happened on the street and 14 percent in an apartment or house.

Olsen said the reduction of indoor killings could be the result of domestic battery victims having better access to shelters. He also noted the police department's risk assessment test, a procedure for domestic violence calls, could be another factor in the reduction.

"The police basically have an instrument that they check off boxes, and if there is enough boxes checked, then it indicates that the victim has a much higher likelihood of experiencing more lethal or subsequent domestic violence situation, and so they make referrals to services," Olsen said.

Overall, between 2001 and 2014, 46% percent of killings happened on the street, 15 percent in an apartment or house and 12 percent in an automobile.

Olsen said there are a lot of "forces at work" that can lead up to a killing and noted every factor should be taking into consideration when looking at the decrease in murders.

"If gangs aren’t fighting over whose selling drugs, there tends to be less shootings," Olsen said. "If gangs are happy about the turf they control, and the money they are making, and they don’t feel the need to expand territory ... then they don’t shoot people. If something happens to disrupt the market, then there will be a fight on who gets to control that market, and that will result in some escalation of violence.

"Some have said with the public now trying to be more cooperative with the police to identify shooters and homicides that will contribute in a reduction because it makes sense that if you can get the killers off the streets ... there will be less killings. If you get the shooters off the streets there will be less shooters."

Scott Diase, 15, was charged with murder in the Jan. 17 shooting death of 18-year-old Bernard Pippen in the Auburn Gresham community. Reader "Pissed off" posted this about the killing:

This young man needs to get whatever he has coming ... I knew Bernard and can say he was not at all a bad young man...what has happened to our young men and women when they think taking someone's life is ok??
I am outraged at what has become ok in the eyes of common human decency...
These young kids should be tried as adults and lock them all up Please so the rest can live not in fear but peace....prayers go out to his family...

Jose Hernandez / Family photo

BY CHANTELLE NAVARRO
Homicide Watch Chicago

When Jose Hernandez Jr. wasn't in school, he was working as a forklift operator to support his parents, family said.

Police found Hernandez, 17, shot in the head on a sidewalk in the 5900 block of South Fairfield Avenue about 1:15 a.m. Dec. 17, authorities said. He was declared dead a short time later at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Family members said Hernandez was coming home from work when he was shot to death outside his Chicago Lawn home.

Hernandez' sister, Stephanie Hernandez, said her brother woke up at 7 a.m. and went to school until noon. He would then go to his job as a forklift operator in southwest suburban Bolingbrook.

"He would never be lazy at home on the couch sleeping -- never," Stephanie Hernandez said.

The day after Jose Hernandez was killed, his family learned he spent his entire paycheck on a 50-inch for his parents that was available for pick up, his sister said.

"He was the kindest gentleman, so handsome and generous and selfless," his sister said. "Everything was always about whoever had less than he had, that’s what he was about.

Jose Hernandez / Family photo

"He was very humble. After he died, we found out many things about him helping others."

Stephanie Hernandez recalled one time when her brother stayed up late on the phone with a depressed friend, "telling her nice things" and talking out her of negative thoughts.

"In [another] specific incidence, somebody told us my brother ran after a guy on the CTA and tackled him after he stole a girls phone," Stephanie Hernandez said.

Stephanie Hernandez said her brother was about helping others and was not affiliated with gangs, which the family confirmed with friends and classmates. He even wrote a poem for school criticizing the city's violence.

Area South detectives are investigating the killing, but nobody has been charged for the murder.

Tyrese Bell allegedly fatally shot 51-year-old cab driver Chinedu Madu during a Jan. 8 robbery in the North Lawndale neighborhood, prosecutors said. Bell was on probation for a previous conviction at the time of the killing. Reader "Juan" posted this about the killing:

I'm still trying to figure out why he was out of prison? The justice system is full of injustice. Laws are broken by criminals, and the punishment is a joke. My sincere condolences to the family and friends of this senseless act of violence.

Alexander Villafane died after being shot Sunday in the Little Village neighborhood.

Villafane, 39, was standing next to a vehicle in the 3500 block of West 24th Street when a minivan drove past and somebody inside opened fire about 12:50 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

Villafane, of the 2300 block of South St. Louis Avenue, was shot in the head and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was declared dead at 11:54 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area Central detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Mayron Collier was killed in a West Pullman shooting that left another man critically wounded early Thursday.

Collier, 24, and the other man were both shot in the head near East 119th Street and South Yale Avenue about 2:05 a.m. Thursday, authorities said.

Collier, of the 10000 block of South Pulaski Road, died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

The other man, 29, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for treatment, police said.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area South detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire, Network Video Productions

A Rockford man was shot to death early Thursday in the Bridgeport neighborhood.

Police found 20-year-old Israel C. Pena on the ground in the 1200 block of West 32nd Street about 3 a.m. Thursday, authorities said.

Pena, of the 800 block of Montague Street in Rockford, had been shot in the chest and died at the scene, authorities said.

Nobody has been charged for the murder.

Area Central detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Willie Mims / Photo from Cook County Sheriff's office

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

A man already in jail awaiting trial for possession of a stolen vehicle has now been charged with murder after prosecutors claim he used the vehicle in an August 2014 Englewood drive-by shooting that killed Dearies Arnold.

Arnold, 26, was standing in the 7100 block of South Green Street on Aug. 11, 2014, when a dark minivan approached and Willie Mims fired ten to 20 shots through the open driver's side window, said Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Cooper.

Arnold, of the 7100 block of South Champlain Avenue, was shot multiple times and died less than an hour later at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

“He was a nice dude,” said area resident Bud. “He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Friends said Arnold had attended Robeson High School and was focused on taking care of his children. They described him as a well-dressed man who helped others.

Police said Arnold was a documented gang member, but friends denied that claim and called him a “good kid.”

Dearies Arnold / Submitted photo

On Aug. 13, 2014, Mims was arrested and charged for being in possession of a stolen minivan, Cooper said. He is currently being held in Cook County Jail on $75,000 bond on that case, according to court records.

Inside the minivan, investigators found a 9 mm shell casing that matched a shell casing found at the shooting that killed Arnold, Cooper said.

Two witnesses identified Mims as the person driving the minivan who shot Arnold, Cooper said.

Mims, 22, was charged with first-degree murder and Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. denied bail during a Friday bond hearing. Mims will be back in court to face the murder charges Feb. 19.

-- Contributing: Rummana Hussain