A 54-year-old woman was found beaten to death in her Archer Heights home Wednesday night.

Police found Maria Sadelski in the basement of her home in the 4800 block of South Karlov Avenue about 8:10 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

Sadelski had apparent head trauma and was dead at the scene, authorities said. A police source said she was beaten with a hammer and knife.

An autopsy confirmed Sadelski died of multiple blunt-force injuries from an assault and her death was ruled a homicide.

Detectives are investigating if the attack is domestic related and how a vehicle crashed into the garage after the killing, police said.

Esmeralda Flores, who lives next to Sadelski and her two sons, said she was coming home from work when she saw one of the sons running.

"We heard a really loud noise, so we came outside and we saw that he was screaming, ‘Help,’ and he was on the floor," Flores said.

Flores said she saw somebody fighting with one of Sadelski's son. When police arrived, officers asked Flores and her family to go back to their home, she said.

Flores said the Sadelski family was always cordial with her family.

“They’re really nice to us. Whenever we’re outside they say, ‘Hi, how are you guys doing?’”

Police said detectives are questioning two people, but would not say if it was Sadelski's sons.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire, Network Video Productions

Ramon Gartman was fatally in the South Chicago neighborhood Thursday morning.

Police found Gartman, 33, shot in the face in the 8400 block of South Commercial Avenue at 11:48 a.m. Thursday, authorities said.

Gartman, of the 7600 block of South Kingston Avenue, died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital less than 30 minutes later, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Nobody has been charged for the killing.

Area South detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Wojciech Sadelski / Photo from Chicago Police

BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

A Southwest Side man accused of murdering his mother allegedly admitted to police that he “lost it,” killed her and said it was a “good thing” she was dead.

Officers found Maria Sadelski in her basement with trauma to her head and body Wednesday night after her younger son attacked his brother with a hammer and tried to run him over with Sadelski’s car, Assistant State’s Attorney Akash Vyas said.

Sadelski, 54, also was beaten with a hammer and stabbed with a knife, a police source said.

Earlier, Sadelski’s 30-year-old son had come to the family home from work and noticed it was dark, prosecutors said.

Then, within seconds, his younger brother, Wojciech Sadelski, started attacking him with the hammer inside their home in the 4800 block of South Karlov Avenue, Vyas said.

The brother was able to escape to a neighbor’s house and call 911 after a brief struggle. But when he started walking back to the home to check on his mother, Wojciech Sadelski, now in their mother’s car, drove onto the sidewalk, trying to run him over, Vyas said.

The brother jumped out of the way and Wojciech Sadelski, 26, ended up crashing his car into the side of a garage, Vyas said.

Wojciech Sadelski then ran out of the car and chased his brother before hitting him with the hammer, Vyas said.

When police officers arrived, they were able to take the hammer from Wojciech Sadelski, Vyas said.

They found the mother of the two men inside after the older brother asked them to check on her, Vyas said.

Wojciech Sadelski was charged with murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Wojciech Sadelski slouched forward in court Friday, grabbing onto the table in front of him as a Polish interpreter described the allegations.

He may be suffering from a mental disability, an assistant public defender told Judge James Brown.

“He is a danger to himself and society,” Brown said before ordering Wojciech Sadelski held without bail.

Ivan Gomez / Photo from Chicago Police

BY LEEANN SHELTON
Sun-Times Media

A man has been charged with two weapons-related offenses in connection with a fatal gang-related shooting last week outside a Logan Square grocery, but he was not charged with murder, authorities said.

Ivan Gomez, 21, was charged with felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a street gang member and felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon without a FOID card, police said.

The charges stem from a May 13 shooting that killed 19-year-old Jonathan Garcia outside FoodSmart Urban Market, at 2901 W. Armitage Ave., authorities said. A second man was also wounded in the shooting.

Authorities said Garcia and a 33-year-old man got into a fight with two other men outside the store.

During the fight, one of the men pulled out a gun and shot Garcia and the 33-year-old, authorities said.

Garcia, 19, of the 3300 block of West Palmer Street, was shot in the chest and died at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center less than 30 minutes later, authorities said.

The 33-year-old man was shot in the shoulder and neck, police said. He was also taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center for treatment.

Investigators recovered a .38-caliber revolver at the scene, police said.

Prosecutors said Garcia initiated the shooting, which was captured on video, so Gomez was not charged with murder, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Gomez was ordered held without bond and will be back in court May 26, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.

Burundi Martin / Photo from Chicago Police

BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

A Far South Side man was ordered held without bond Friday for allegedly murdering a man in front of his mother and brother.

Burundi A. Martin stopped in front of the porch in the 10600 block of South Yates Avenue and asked Tony McIntosh’s family, “What’s Up?,” prosecutors said.

Martin then reached into his pocket, pulled out a gun and opened fire, prosecutors said.

McIntosh, his mother and brother dropped to the ground as soon as the bullets started flying on the night of Oct. 3, 2014, Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Cooper said.

The first bullet struck the glass screen door, shattering it.

Martin then took a step closer to the porch and fired three more times, Cooper said.

McIntosh, 20, was hit in the right arm and the back of his head, authorities said.

Martin ran from the scene, but was captured on surveillance cameras fleeing with the weapon, Cooper said.

McIntosh’s mother, a certified nursing assistant, performed CPR on her son before paramedics arrived, relatives said last year.

The day after the murder, she learned of Burundi’s nickname and later identified him in a photo from the surveillance cameras, Cooper said.

Martin, 25, of the 12200 block of South Ada Street, was arrested Thursday based on an investigative alert issued at the time of the murder, Cooper said.

“It happened right in front of his mother,” McIntosh’s aunt, Traci Armstrong, said in October. “It doesn’t seem real. Who does that?”

Martin, who has an 8th-grade education and works at a shipping and packaging company, has two prior convictions — one a weapons charge, the other a residential burglary case.

BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

A West Side man was ordered held on $1 million bond Friday for a shooting that claimed the life of a 49-year-old man and left two other people injured.

Martez Staples shot the three people on Aug. 17, 2013, after asking a group sitting on a porch in the 1200 block of South Lawndale Avenue if they knew who beat up Staples' uncle in a nearby alley, prosecutors said.

The group on the porch said they knew nothing about the beating, prompting someone in Staples' group to say, “f--- them,” Assistant State’s Attorney Jamie Santini said.

Staples and two others then opened fire, Santini said.

Willie Bush, 49, was shot 13 and died three days later, Santini said.

Another man was shot nine but survived. A teenager was also shot in his abdomen and survived, authorities said.

Bush worked as a contractor boarding up and cleaning abandoned building, friend Cleveland Smith said.

Willie Bush / Submitted photo

“I’ve never seen him, in the 20-something years that I knew him, without a smile or a laugh,” Smith said. “He was always happy.”

During the investigation, detectives learned from one of the victims that Staples was one of the gunmen, Santini said.

Staples, 26, of the 1200 block of South St. Louis Avenue, was arrested this week. He is a member of the Vice Lords street gang, according to a police report.

Staples has previous convictions for armed robbery and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.

Romell Outlaw / Photo from Chicago Police

Romell Outlaw has been charged with murder for an April shooting in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood that left 37-year-old Juan Simpson dead.

Simpson, 37, was standing in the 100 block of East 69th Street when gunfire erupted about 8:30 p.m. April 2, authorities said.

Simpson, of the 6900 block of South Indiana Avenue, was shot in the chest and died less than an hour later at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, authorities said.

According to Simpson’s Facebook page, he attended Corliss High School and studied at DeVry University.

Juan Simpson / Photo from Facebook

Outlaw, 25, was arrested at or near his home in the 4500 block of South Drexel Avenue about 11:10 a.m. Friday, authorities said.

Outlaw was charged with first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, police said.

On Saturday, Outlaw was ordered held without bond, authorities said. He will be back in court on Tuesday.

Charlie R. Weathers was fatally shot in the Austin community Saturday afternoon.

Police found Weathers, 24, shot in the head in the 0-100 block of North Laramie Avenue about 12:45 p.m., authorities said.

Weathers, of the 5000 block of West End Avenue, died at Mount Sinai Hospital at 2:01 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Nobody has been charged for the killing.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Kay Kong / Photo from Chicago Police

BY SUN-TIMES STAFF

A McKinley Park man has been charged with murder for a Thursday night shooting in the Bridgeport neighborhood that left one man dead and another wounded, police said.

Emergency personnel found two men shot in an alley in the 1300 block of West 31st Street about 11:30 p.m. Thursday, police said.

A 22-year-old man was shot in the head and died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, police said. The Cook County medical examiner's office has neither confirmed the fatality nor released his name as of Saturday night.

Another man, 19, was shot in the abdomen area and taken to Stroger Hospital for treatment, police said.

A woman who lives on the block said she heard six gunshots, an unusual occurrence for the neighborhood.

“I have grandchildren and we sit out here every night in the summer, and we’ve never seen anything like this,” according to the woman, who asked to remain anonymous.

On Saturday, police announced that 35-year-old Kay Kong was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery for the discharge of a firearm and armed violence.

Kong, of the 3400 block of South Wood Street, is expected to appear in court Sunday for a bond hearing.

Police initially said that Area Central detectives believed the shooting was drug related.

-- Network Video Productions

Carlos F. Marino was fatally shot in the Wicker Park neighborhood early Saturday.

Marino, 34, was sitting with two other people on the front porch of a home in the 1700 block of West Pierce Avenue when a gunman walked up and opened fire about 1:45 a.m., authorities said.

Marino, who lived on the block, was struck in the chest and shoulder, authorities said. He died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County less than an hour later.

Relatives told DNAinfo Chicago that Marino, a father, had been working at Mead Electric for several years.

Nobody has been charged for the killing.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire, Network Video Productions

Daniel Rivera was shot to death in the Albany Park neighborhood Saturday night.

Police found Rivera shot in the face in an alley in the 4700 block of North Albany Avenue about 11:45 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.

Rivera, 27, of the 7200 block of North Damen Avenue, was dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Nobody has been charged for the killing.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Deja Atwood was killed and two men were wounded when gunfire erupted at a West Englewood party early Sunday.

Police said four people were denied entry to a party in the 6100 block of South Honore Street about 12:45 a.m. Sunday. The group responded by surrounding the party and opening fire -- striking three people outside, police said.

Atwood, 29, was shot in the chest and leg and later died at Holy Cross Hospital, authorities said

A 39-year-old man shot in the chest was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County and a 25-year-old man shot in the arm was taken to Holy Cross Hospital, police said.

Nobody has been charged for the killing.

Area South detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire, Network Video Productions

LaSean Barnes was fatally shot in the East Garfield Park neighborhood Sunday afternoon.

Barnes, 38, was in the 3200 block of West Maypole Avenue when someone fired shots from a passing conversion van about 3:20 p.m., authorities said.

Barnes, of the 3000 block of West Polk Street, was shot in abdomen and died at Mount Sinai Hospital at 5:25 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

The beige van sped off east on Maypole Avenue after the shooting, police said. Nobody has been charged for the killing.

Area North detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

A 15-year-old boy was killed in a Sunday night shooting in the Bronzeville neighborhood that left another teen wounded.

The boys were outside in the 4400 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue when a gunman opened fire from a passing car, authorities said.

Emergency crews found 15-year-od Raheem Dameron shot in the back in a nearby alley, authorities said.

Raheem, of the 5600 block of South Justine Street, died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

A 14-year-old boy was shot in the foot and taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, police said.

Nobody has been charged for the killing.

Area Central detectives are investigating if the shooting was gang related.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Robert Richmond was fatally shot Monday evening in the Bronzeville neighborhood just blocks from Chicago Police Headquarters.

Richmond, 19, was in a vehicle in the 0-100 block of East 36th Place when a gunman in a passing vehicle opened fire about 5:25 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

Richmond, of the 6100 block of South King Drive, was shot in the back and a family member took him to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where he was declared dead at 7:46 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

The shooting happened less than a block from Perspectives/IIT Math and Science Academy at 3663 S. Wabash Ave. and about a block south of Chicago Police Headquarters at 3500 S. Michigan Ave.

Nobody has been charged for the killing.

Area Central detectives are investigating if the shooting was gang related.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

A south suburban man was fatally shot on the Near West Side early Saturday.

Police found 20-year-old Darius Lee shot multiple times in the 1000 block of West 14th Place about 2:10 a.m. Saturday, authorities said.

Lee, of the 3400 block of West Hummingbird Court in Matteson, 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 killing.

Area Central detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire, Network Video Productions

Theo Hike, 23, was fatally shot May 10 in the Greater Grand Crossing community. Reader Quentin Jones posted this about him:

Theo Hike was a genuine fella great father, good friend, the best son & brother. May he rest in peace

Xavier Shannon was killed in a South Shore shooting that left another man wounded early Sunday.

Shannon, 32, was standing on a sidewalk in the 7900 block of South East End Avenue when gunfire erupted about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, authorities said.

Shannon, who lived on the block, was shot in the neck and died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Another man was shot in the buttocks and took himself to Jackson Park Hospital, police said.

Nobody has been charged for the killing.

Area South detectives are investigating.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Ronnie Shaw Jr. was shot to death in the Austin neighborhood Monday night.

Shaw, 17, was walking in the 4900 block of West Erie Street when he was confronted by a male with a gun about 7:50 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

The gunman opened fire and shot Shaw in the back and leg as he tried to run away, authorities said.

Nearby officers heard the shots and found Shaw lying in the street, authorities said.

Shaw, of the 4900 block of West Ferdinand Street, died at Mount Sinai Hospital less than an hour later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Nobody has been charged for the killing.

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

-- Sun-Times Media Wire

Felix Diaz was fatally shot in the Irving Park community Monday afternoon.

Diaz, 29, was sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle in the 4100 block of North Hamlin Avenue when another vehicle pulled up and a gunman exited and opened fire about 2:30 p.m., authorities said.

Diaz, of the 3300 block of West Belle Plaine Avenue, was shot multiple times in the chest and died at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center about two hours later, authorities said.

Nobody has been charged for the killing.

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

-- Sun-Times Media Wire