Demetrius R. Bottom, who was shot early Tuesday during an argument in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood on the South Side, has died.

Bottom, 49, was standing outside in the 8000 block of South Maryland about 1 a.m. when someone approached and an altercation ensued, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was shot in the side during the encounter, police said.

Bottom, of the 7900 block of South Maryland, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he died at 4:31 a.m., the medical examiner’s office said.

An autopsy Wednesday found he died of multiple gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Kimon Wheeler was shot and killed late Wednesday in the North Lawndale, the second 15-year-old to die from gun violence in the West Side neighborhood in two days.

Wheeler got into a fight with someone who then pulled a gun and shot him in the back about 10 p.m. in the 4100 block of West Cullerton, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Wheeler, of the 2100 block of West Jackson, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:38 p.m., authorities said.

Just one day earlier, 15-year-old Martese Gentry was fatally shot about 5:35 p.m. in the 1400 block of South Millard.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Sam L. Johnson was shot to death late Wednesday night in the Uptown neighborhood on the North Side.

The 19-year-old was found by police in an alley in the 4400 block of North Magnolia about 11:45 p.m. with gunshot wounds to his side, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Johnson, who lived on the same block where he was found, was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 12:24 a.m. Thursday, authorities said.

Police said the shooting may have been a drive-by attack.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Lynell L. Simmons died and two other men were wounded in a Thursday afternoon shooting in the South Side Chatham neighborhood.

The men were standing outside in the 7900 block of South Langley about 3:10 p.m., police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala said. That’s when a maroon van pulled up, and two men got out out and started firing.

Simmons, 30, was shot in the abdomen and and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:46 p.m., authorities said. Simmons lived in the 700 block of East 62nd Street, the medical examiner’s office said.

A 22-year-old man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the side, Zala said. A 38-year-old man was in “stable” condition at Stroger with gunshot wounds to the right arm and right foot.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Clifton Frye died Thursday of gunshot wounds that prosecutors claim he suffered nearly three weeks ago at the hand of a teenager, upset by Frye’s disparaging Facebook comments about recently slain rapper Young Pappy.

The rapper, whose real name is Shaquon Thomas, was shot early May 29 in Uptown. Four days later, 17-year-old Germel Dossie allegedly shot Frye over remarks he made about the rapper on Facebook, Cook County prosecutors said at a bond hearing for Dossie last week.

Frye, of the 1400 block of West Farwell, was pronounced dead Thursday afternoon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the medical examiner’s office. He had been pronounced brain dead on June 14, but was still technically alive.

Assistant State’s Attorney Akash Vyas didn’t say when or what 22-year-old Frye had written on Facebook.

But Dossie asked his friend to drive to the Rogers Park neighborhood as an apparent getaway driver on the afternoon of June 1. Dossie accosted Frye while he was walking in the 7600 block on North Ashland Avenue, authorities said.

Dossie’s friend, who had parked near an alley, heard three to four shots, then saw Dossie jump back into the car with a gun, Vyas said.

Dossie demanded that his friend drive away and asked to be dropped off near Glenwood and Pratt, Vyas said.

Surveillance video captured an armed Dossie running from an alley towards Frye and shooting, Vyas said. The footage also caught the license plate of the car he was in.

Dossie was arrested Tuesday after police saw him get out of an Albany Park apartment and into a car. They followed and arrested him in the 3900 block of West Montrose.

Dossie is a sophomore at Truman High School, Assistant Public Defender Sandra Bennewitz said in court. He is also a member of the Insane Cutthroat Gangsters, a faction of the Gangster Disciples, according to his arrest report.

Judge Donald Panarese Jr. ordered Dossie held on $1 million bond last week on attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm charges.

Young Pappy was not signed to a record label, but his songs “Killa” and “Fanteo Freestyle,” had thousands of views on YouTube.

The 19-year-old had previously been the intended target in at least two shootings that left bystanders dead before he was killed on May 29.

—Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Hammood Dawoudi was killed and another man was wounded in a shooting inside an apartment in the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side on Thursday night, police said.

Dawoudi, 23, and a 20-year-old were inside a basement apartment about 9:55 p.m. in the 7900 block of South State when someone knocked on the door and asked for the 20-year-old, officials said.

When the door was opened, the person outside fired several shots before running away northbound, police said.

Dawoudi suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the body and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at 10:46 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The 20-year-old was shot in the leg and shoulder, and suffered a graze wound to the head, police said. He was also taken to Christ Medical Center, where his condition was stabilized.

Detectives are investigating whether the shootings were gang-related.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By BECKY SCHLIKERMAN
Chicago Sun-Times

Most people wouldn’t consider James Jones a good guy. He sold drugs, according to his family. He’d been in prison and was out on parole.

But Saturday, when a man started shooting at Jones and his mother on the South Side, the 21-year-old covered his mother’s body with his own, shielding her and saving her life, said Dietra Luckett, Jones’ aunt.

“My sister just so happened to be coming out the front door,” Luckett said. “He took his body and put it on top of her body. He covered her body.”

Alicia Jones, 46, was wounded but survived. She underwent surgery at Advocate Christ Medical Center.

She knows her son saved her life, Luckett said, but doesn’t know he’s gone. Her sister said she’s been asking for him, saying, “Where’s James?”

James Jones

Luckett said her nephew had just gotten home from buying loose cigarettes at a neighbor’s home.

She said while he was there, someone “said something to him,” but James Jones “just rolled off on his bike and didn’t think nothing of it.”

When he got home, someone had parked a van in the alley and walked up to him and “said some more words,” according to Luckett. She said her nephew didn’t pay him any attention and tried to walk inside.

At that moment, as his mom was coming outside, the man opened fire, Luckett said.

Alicia Jones knew she had been shot and asked relatives to get her son off her, Luckett said, not realizing he was dead.

Her sister said family members don’t want to tell her yet her son’s dead while she’s still recovering in the hospital.

Her son, though no angel—relatives said he sold drugs, and court records show he has a criminal record and was on parole after being sentenced to prison for attempted burglary—saved his mother.

Police said the shooting was gang-related. They haven’t made an arrest.

Alicia Jones had four children. Now, three of her kids have died as a result of violence, according to her sister.

In 2006, Alicia Jones’ daughter, Antionette Means, was killed by a robber who emptied the cash drawer of the KFC where Means worked, then shot her for no apparent reason.

And in 1994, her 4-year-old son, Curtis Jones Jr. was killed when gang members threw a Molotov cocktail into a house, hoping to kill a rival gang member, prosecutors said then.

James Jones was only 5-months old at the time. He was saved when a cousin dropped him into a relative’s arms from the second story of the home.

At the scene of the shooting Saturday, someone left a handmade note to James Jones. It said only, “I love you.”

A teenager has been charged with fatally shooting 16-year-old Jorge Ruiz earlier this year in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

Jeremiah Nieves, 17, of the 1300 block of North Monticello, faces one count of first-degree murder, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

Officers responding to a call of shots fired about 10:10 p.m. on Feb. 10 in the 1600 block of North Keeler found Ruiz shot several times in an alley, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Ruiz, who lived a block away in the 1700 block of North Keeler, was dead at the scene, authorities said.

At the time, police said the shooting may have been gang-related.

On Saturday, police said the teen has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder for the attack.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By MITCH DUDEK
Chicago Sun-Times

Two teens accused of the shooting death of a 15-year-old Kimon Wheeler were ordered held on high bond amounts Sunday.

Aaron Bynum, 16, was ordered held on $900,000 and Keon Frazier, 15, was ordered held on $1 million. A 14-year-old boy charged in the shooting did not appear in court Sunday.

All three were charged with first-degree murder and attempted robbery in the death of Wheeler, who was killed late Wednesday outside a convenience store at 4155 W. Cullerton Ave. in the North Lawndale neighborhood.

Frazier, of the 1800 block of South Karlov, was with Bynum and the 14-year-old when the three teens announced a robbery, prosecutors allege.

Wheeler, who’d been hanging out with his two cousins, turned to run. Frazier pulled a gun and shot Wheeler, prosecutors said.

Wheeler, of the 2100 block of West Jackson, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:38 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Numerous witnesses saw the shooting, prosecutors said.

Frazier has a lengthy juvenile court record and was on probation for a separate robbery case at the time of the shooting, prosecutors said during a court hearing Sunday.

Bynum, of the 5100 block of South King Drive, also has a criminal history, including charges from 2013 for possession of a stolen vehicle.

—Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Nija Richardson died after being stabbed during a fight with a man he knew Sunday night in the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, police say.

About 11:15 p.m., the 23-year-old Richardson got into an argument with a man near his home in the 6000 block of South Justine, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The other man, whom Richardson knew, pulled out a knife when the altercation turned physical and stabbed Richardson in the abdomen and stomach, authorities said.

He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 1:07 a.m., authorities said.

The attacker was not in custody as of Tuesday morning, police said.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Authorities have identified a 43-year-old man shot to death last week in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side as Shannon Harper.

About 9:50 p.m. Thursday, Harper was outside near his home in the 6600 block of South Champlain when he heard gunshots and felt pain, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was shot in the abdomen, chest and hip; and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he did at 10:33 p.m., authorities said.

Police did not have any updates on the investigation as of late Monday.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

An man shot dead late Saturday in the West Side Humboldt Park neighborhood has been identified as 18-year-old Chad Harris.

Harris was walking in the 4200 block of West Division at 11:18 p.m. when a gunman walked up and fired shots, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Police said the gunman ran away after the shooting.

Harris, of the 100 block of North Harding, was shot in the chest, and pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital at 11:45 p.m., according to the medical examiner's office.

An autopsy found he died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner's office.

—Chicago Harris

Devon Davis was killed in a shooting Tuesday afternoon in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood on the South Side, police said.

The shooting happened in the 7500 block of South Ellis at 2:05 p.m., police said.

The victim was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Davis, 21, lived in the 7500 block of South Indiana, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The shooting might have been a drive-by attack, police said.

Police are investigating whether the shooting was gang-related.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By SAM CHARLES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Christon Barlow was killed and three other people injured in a Bronzeville neighborhood drive-by shooting Tuesday evening, about a block away from Chicago Police headquarters.

It happened about 8:30 p.m. near the intersection of 35th and Indiana, authorities said.

Barlow, 52, of the 2400 block of East 73rd Street, was shot in the back and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died at 8:57 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A man and woman, both 18, were taken to Stroger Hospital with gunshot wounds to the back. Her condition was critical and his serious, police said. Another man, 20, was shot in the leg and taken to a hospital, where his condition had stabilized.

Christon Barlow

A man who did not want to be named said he was in a car on 35th Street when another car traveling north on Prairie turned left onto 35th and someone inside opened fire toward the victims. The car—which he estimated had four people in it—then crashed into his car. The people in the other car then ran off, he said.

After the shooting, an officer told two women who witnessed the gunfire that recent gun violence in the area likely stemmed from social media feuds.

“It’s got nothing to do with politics. You got gang wars started over something somebody said on Twitter or Facebook,” he said.

Authorities investigate a shooting that injured four people Tuesday afternoon near the intersection of 35th and Indiana. | Sam Charles, Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Lucille Barnes was killed and two other women injured in a Gresham neighborhood shooting late Tuesday on the South Side.

The three were among a group of people fighting on the street about 11:30 p.m. in the 7500 block of South Stewart, police said. A gunman ran by and fired into the crowd before taking off in a white SUV, police said.

Barnes, 34, of the 7500 block of South Eggleston was shot in the abdomen and taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died at 12:49 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A 22-year-old woman shot in the leg and wrist, and a 25-year-old woman shot in the arm also went to Stroger. Their conditions stabilized, police said.

Minutes later, a woman, a boy and a girl—both 14—were shot near 80th and Stewart, police said. It was not known whether the shootings were related.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Police and a crowd gather near a scene of a shooting in the 7500 block of South Stewart Tuesday night. | Network Video Productions

A 20-year-old man has been charged with the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Martese Gentry as he watched a fight last week in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side.

Marlon Welton of the 3300 block of West Douglas Boulevard has been charged with first-degree murder, according to Chicago Police.

Marlon Welton | Chicago Police

Gentry, of the 800 block of South Kedzie, was shot in the chest and abdomen, and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m., authorities said.

Welton was scheduled to appear in bond court Wednesday.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

A man found shot to death Sunday morning in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side has been identified as Cordelro McGee.

Police responding to a call of an unresponsive person about 10:30 a.m. found the 27-year-old unresponsive inside a vehicle in the 100 block of North Parkside, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

McGee had been shot in the back and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

His home address was still not known as of Wednesday, according to the medical examiner’s office.

—Chicago Sun-Times Wire

By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

A West Side man was ordered held without bond Wednesday for allegedly shooting into a crowd and killing 15-year-old Martese Gentry, who had been watching two women fight.

Marlon Welton had been watching the fight on June 16 with others before he started firing as the tussle between the women broke up in the 1400 block of South Millard Street, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Barry Quinn said in court Wednesday.

The teen was standing on a porch when two bullets hit his back, Quinn said.

Gentry, of the 800 block of South Kedzie, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead later that night, authorities said.

Police officers, who had heard the commotion, had walked toward the fight when Welton, 20, started shooting, Quinn said.

The officers saw Welton near the porch where Gentry was shot and also saw a black object in his pocket, Quinn said.

The officers chased Welton, but he escaped, before being arrested Monday.

Welton, of the 3300 block of West Douglas Boulevard, was identified by witnesses as the shooter, Quinn said.

Christon Barlow

By SAM CHARLES
Sun-Times Media Wire

After he came out of a week-and-a-half long coma last December, lifelong South Shore resident Christon Barlow moved into a Bronzeville nursing home.

In his seven months living there, the 52-year-old Barlow became popular among the staff and fellow residents. In fact, he was hired on as a driver for other residents and often would run errands for the staff and others who lived there, according to his sister.

Tuesday night, Barlow was out picking up a few things for other residents and the nursing home staff when he was shot and killed.

“He’d gotten so well-known over there in the home that they hired him to be their transporter for patients, to go to the store for nurses and patients, and this is how he ended up,” said his sister, Phyllys Barlow-Greene.

He was one of four shot near the intersection of 35th and Indiana — a block south of the nursing home — about 8:30 p.m., according to police. He was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about a half hour later. He was the lone fatality. Two men, ages 18 and 20, and a 20-year-old woman were also shot.

A man who did not want to be named said he was in a car on 35th Street when another car traveling north on Prairie turned left onto 35th and someone inside opened fire toward the victims. The car—which he estimated had four people in it—then crashed into his car. The people in the other car then ran off, he said.

“He was very helpful with all the staff and residents,” said Angel Wells, the director of nursing at Bronzeville Park Skilled Living and Nursing Center.

She added that Barlow would make a point to ask residents with mobility issues if he could pick anything up for them or help them in any way.

A Chicago Police officer at the scene said the attack was a drive-by shooting and detectives are reviewing surveillance footage from several neighboring businesses.

Barlow was a former construction worker who had been placed on disability in recent years after he developed respiratory problems. Those breathing issues, which included asthma, would eventually lead to the coma, his sister said.

Barlow-Greene said she moved her family to Sumter, South Carolina, two years ago to get away from gun violence in Chicago.

Barlow, the second-oldest of five children, helped care for his grandmother before his coma, his sister said. The day he went into it, his grandmother died.

He had two adult children, one son and one daughter, and several nieces who “called him ‘Uncle Crazy’ because he kept them laughing,” his sister said.

A lover of music, Barlow was a drummer who often showcased his dance moves, his sister said.

“You put a song on and that boy would step down,” she said.

Barlow-Greene said that detectives told her two people were in custody for the shooting, which the Chicago Police Department’s News Affairs office could not confirm Wednesday evening.

Negeal Smith was sitting in a car when he was shot to death early Thursday in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side.

The 20-year-old was sitting in the backseat of a vehicle in the 1400 block of South Lawndale at 12:05 a.m. when a male gunman walked up and fired shots, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Smith, who was shot in the head, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.

Smith lived in the 3600 block of West Douglas Blvd., about two blocks from the shooting scene.

Detective are investigating whether the incident may have been gang-related.

— Chicago Sun-Times Wire