By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Sun-Times file photo
The year is just past the halfway point, and if the number of homicides in Chicago continues at the current pace, it will reach a total not seen in 25 years. At least 12 more people were killed in Chicago last week, brining the total to more than 375 for the year.
Unofficially, there have been 378 homicides in the city, according to statistics compiled by the Chicago Sun-Times Wire. If that pace continues, the year's total could top 700 for the first time since the mid-1990s.
Last week was capped by a weekend in which more than 40 people were shot, five of them fatally.
- The week's final homicide was a 19-year-old man shot to death in the Brighton Park neighborhood Sunday afternoon. It happened about 3:30 p.m. in the 3900 block of South Kedzie. Gregory Chacon suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and arm, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
An uncooperative witness told investigators a newer-model black vehicle approached Chacon and someone inside fired numerous shots, police said. The vehicle then took off northbound after the shooting.
- A 20-year-old man was shot to death early Sunday while driving in the West Elsdon neighborhood. About 2:10 a.m., Jesus Martinez Jr. was at the wheel of a vehicle going west on 55th Street when a black car pulled alongside at a stop sign at Kostner Avenue, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
Someone inside the other car pulled out a gun and opened fire, striking him in the back, police said. Martinez was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead about five hours later.
- A 25-year-old man was shot to death Saturday afternoon in the Roseland neighborhood. About 1:35 p.m., Deandre Gray was sitting in a car parked in the 10400 block of South Wentworth when someone walked up and shot him in the head, according to authorities. Gray was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died two hours later, authorities said. The shooting happened about three blocks from his home.
- A west suburban man died Saturday, five days after he was shot in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Roberto Ortiz, 20, was outside in the 4400 block of South Wolcott about 8:50 p.m. July 18 when a male got out of a black sedan and shot him in the head, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
Ortiz, of the 2600 block of South 60th Court in Cicero, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at early Saturday, authorities said.
- A 20-year-old northwest Indiana man was found shot to death Friday in the Roseland neighborhood. Officers responding to a call of a person down about 6:15 p.m. found Tabari Freeman unresponsive in the backyard of a home in the 10700 block of South Edbrooke, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
Freeman had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. He lived in Merrillville, Indiana.
- A man was shot and killed in the Englewood neighborhood Friday afternoon, according to police. Ernest Hudson, 18, was shot in the head about 4:30 p.m. in the 6400 block of South Lowe. He was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
- A 29-year-old North Side man was shot to death in the Jackson Park Highlands neighborhood Thursday night. About 9:15 p.m., Andre Wells was walking in the 6700 block of South Chappel when someone walked up and shot him in the chest, according to authorities. Wells was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died.
- A man died Thursday morning, one day after he was shot in the head in the Rogers Park neighborhood. At 12:24 a.m. Wednesday, 26-year-old Kyara Newell was the passenger in a vehicle driving south in the 2300 block of West Arthur when two males on the sidewalk nearby opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
Newell was shot in the head and was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he died at 11:15 a.m. Thursday, authorities said. Police said 40-year-old James Bryant was apprehended “moments after the shooting,” and identified as the shooter. He was charged with first-degree murder and was ordered held on a $1 million bond.
- A man was fatally shot less than a block from his home in the South Shore neighborhood Tuesday evening. Anthony J. Nicholas, 38, was standing outside about 6:40 p.m. in the 6700 block of South East End when another male walked up and opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the same block.
Nicholas was shot in the chest and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead an hour later, authorities said. Andrew Smith, 33, of the 7900 block of Ogden Avenue in Lyons, was charged Thursday with one count each of first-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, police said. He was already wanted on a warrant for failure to appear in court, police said.
- A person was shot to death late Monday in the Englewood neighborhood, police said. Officers responding at 11:48 p.m. to a call of a person shot in the 6300 block of South Parnell found the male victim lying in the street with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. As of Tuesday afternoon, the medical examiner's office had not released his name pending notification of family.
- A teenager was fatally shot Monday night in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. Officers responding about 9:25 p.m. to a call of a person shot in the 4400 block of West West End found 17-year-old Darrell Peden lying in the street with gunshot wounds to the torso, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. The boy was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.
- A man who was shot at a party in Austin late Sunday died early Monday morning. A second man was also wounded in the shooting. The men, 18 and 33, were at a house party about 11:50 p.m. in the 5000 block of West Jackson when shots rang out, according to police.
The younger man, identified as Aetiris Gladney, was shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police and the medical examiner's office. He lived on the same block as the shooting.
The older man suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and right leg, and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized. He was not cooperating with investigators, police said.
- The week's homicide total could rise, pending results of an investigation and further testing for a woman found dead in a vacant lot in the West Pullman neighborhood early Friday, according to police. At 5:25 a.m., officers called for a well-being check found the woman unresponsive in the lot in the 300 block of East 120th Place.
She was dead at the scene, police said. Police said she was an adult, but her exact age and the nature of her death weren’t immediately known. Area South detectives have launched a death investigation. The medical examiner's office said autopsy results were pending further investigation.