29-year-old man shot in Belmont Gardens

About 3:40 a.m. Saturday, a 29-year-old man drove himself to Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the right hip. The man told police he was in a vehicle, stopped in the 3200 block of North Milwaukee Avenue, when someone pulled alongside him in another vehicle, shouted gang slogans and shot him

Defendant offered dismemberment as a 'present'

An 18-year-old man who was asked to move out of the Northwest Side apartment he shared with his aunt and her boyfriend killed the older man with a hammer, then cut off the man's head, ears and nose and left them on his aunt's bed "as a present" .
Police arrested a blood-covered Alexis Valdez after he dismembered Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez, 41, became exhausted and called 911 to report there was a dead body in their Belmont Gardens basement apartment.
When the 911 dispatcher asked Valdez if he had performed CPR, the young man laughed and said Diaz-Hernandez had been decapitated
Valdez had moved into the basement apartment in the 2500 block of North Kildare Avenue about six months ago with the understanding that he would go to school, work and help pay bills, Sawyers said. But Valdez did not help with expenses, even when he was working, which led to ongoing tension, he said.
Eventually, Valdez was told he had to move out.
On Christmas Eve, Valdez was home drinking while his aunt was at a party and Diaz-Hernandez was visiting family members. Diaz-Hernandez came home to find there was no beer left in the house and headed out with Valdez to a nearby drugstore to pick some up.
Valdez hid a hammer by the apartment's door before leaving, Sawyers said. The store turned out to be closed. When the two men returned home, Valdez let Diaz-Hernandez enter first, then picked up the hammer and struck him in the back of the head.
Diaz-Hernandez fell to the floor, and Valdez struck him up to 10 more times. Valdez then covered the windows, played loud music and began cutting apart the man's body.
He used a butcher knife to cut off Diaz-Hernandez's ears, nose and mouth, and also cut off the man's head and his left arm.
Valdez then put the head, ears and nose on his aunt's bed "as he, quote, 'Wanted to leave his aunt a present," .
According to an arrest report, police who responded to the home after Valdez called 911 on Christmas Day found him sitting in the front yard with an iPad in his hands.
When one officer asked, "What's going on?" Valdez replied, "Shouldn't you arrest me before you ask me questions?"
The officer then asked why he should arrest Valdez. "Because I just killed a man, and he's in the basement," Valdez said, before slamming the iPad to the ground, cracking its screen.
Valdez allegedly told police he would have killed his aunt, too, if she had come home and seen the body.

Man charged with shooting 16-year-old girl

A 35-year-old man was charged with shooting the 16-year-old daughter of his ex-girlfriend in November.
The girl and her mother had both been named as protected persons in an order of protection against Ruben Nieves, 35.
Nieves was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, violating an order of protection and other charges related to the shooting.
Police said he shot the girl about 1:45 a.m. on Nov. 4 as she was entering her apartment, in the 2400 block of North Lowell Avenue in the Belmont Gardens neighborhood. Her mother wasn't injured.
Nieves lives in the 2400 block of North Monitor Avenue, about two miles away, in the Belmont Central neighborhood

Man 29 shot in Belmont Gardens

A man, 29, was shot in his big toe about 2:15 a.m. during a robbery attempt in the 3500 block of West Barry Avenue. He walked into Norwegian American Hospital with the wound and he's in good condition.

Man shot in head in Belmont Gardens

At about 2:15 a.m., a male was shot in the head in the 3500 block of West Diversey Avenue.
He was taken from the scene of the shooting in the Northwest Side's Belmont Gardens neighborhood to Norwegian-American Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

22-year-old man shot in Belmont Gardens

A 22-year-old man walked into Our Lady of the Resurrection Hospital with a gunshot wound to his arm and told police he was shot about 9:45 p.m. near the intersection of Wrightwood and Kildare avenues in the Belmont Gardens neighborhood on the Northwest Side. He was riding in his car when he heard a gunshot after hearing someone yell at him from the street. His car window was shot out and he drove himself to the hospital