Off-duty police officer shot, killed in West Side convenience store

An off-duty police officer was shot and killed Thursday night during a robbery at a West Side convenience store where he worked as a security guard.
Two men walked into the M & M Quick Foods in the 1200 block of North Austin Boulevard in the Austin neighborhood about 8:30 p.m. and shot the officer, Clifton Lewis, several times with a "machine-type" pistol. They then grabbed his gun and star and fled.
Lewis, 41, an eight-year veteran assigned to the Austin District, was rushed to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where he was pronounced dead. About 200 police officers joined Lewis' family at the hospital into the night.
Lewis was assigned to the Austin District's tactical team and his weapon wasn't recovered. Nobody is in custody

Chicago man killed at girlfriend's house on Far South Side

A 31-year-old South Side man was killed Thursday morning at his girlfriend's house in the Rosemoor neighborhood.
Two men searching for Zentonio Bolian visited his girlfriend's house on the 700 block of East 105th Street on the Far South Side about 10 a.m..
A 10-year-old child greeted them at the door and the two asked for Bolian by name.
Witnesses inside the house heard yelling and then gunshots, police said. Bolian was shot twice in the chest.

20-year-old man shot dead

A 20-year-old man died after he was shot in the back and chest in the 1500 block of West 71st Street in Englewood about 2:10 a.m. on Saturday
A spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said Trevor Williams, of the 7000 South Bishop Street, was pronounced dead at 3:13 a.m. He was shot less than two blocks from his home.

Man charged in killing of Aldi store guard found hanged in police lockup

A suspect in the fatal shooting of a guard at a Far South Side grocery store was found hanged to death in a police lockup early this morning, hours after he was charged.
Develt Bradford, 52, was found in the Area 2 lockup at 727 E. 111th Street at about 1:30 a.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner's office, which ruled the death a suicide.
He was in a holding cell and apparently used his sweat pants or pajama bottoms to hang himself. Bradford had been alone in the cell and had been taken out periodically for questioning. Charges were filed about 9:20 p.m.
Bradford, of the 5300 block of South Damen Avenue, was arrested Tuesday. He was charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery in connection with the Nov. 10 holdup that left 54-year-old Reginald Lanier dead and a 67-year-old woman wounded, according to Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for Cook County state's attorney's office.
Bradford also had been charged with two counts of armed robbery from an Oct. 28 hold-up at another Aldi store on 47th Street and Ashland Avenue, Simonton said. He had been scheduled to appear in bond court today.
Police said Bradford was one of two men who walked into the Aldi at 9017 S. Halsted St. on Nov. 10. One of them shot Lanier in the head and torso, and the other approached the cashier. The woman, a customer, was shot in the leg, authorities said. The suspects fled with an unspecified amount of cash.
Officials said both men were believed to be responsible for another robbery of an Aldi store at 47th Street and Ashland Avenue on Oct. 28. No one was hurt during that hold-up.
Bradford was connected to one of the two robberies through a fingerprint match, authorities said. He was also identified as a suspect in a photo array.
His accomplice remains at large. Police have identified him as Michael Smith, 30, of the 5300 block of South Seeley Avenue. His record include five felony drug convictions dating back to 1998.
Bradford’s criminal background includes a few drug arrests, according to Cook County court records, most notably a 1999 felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to 15 months probation for that crime

Man dies in West Englewood shooting

A 35-year-old man was pronounced dead after being shot Tuesday in the West Englewood neighborhood.
Gerald Fisher, of the 6600 Block of South Marshfield, was shot doors from his home, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He was pronounced dead Wednesday at 8:51 a.m. at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Fisher was shot in the chest, arm and elbow at 5:17 p.m. and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he later died

Man's death ruled homicide month after being struck by car

Officials are expected to upgrade charges against a woman who had been previously charged with hitting a man with a car last month now that the man has died.
Victor Ybarra, 42, of the 4100 block of South Richmond Street who was pronounced dead Tuesday died from head and neck injuries he sustained from being hit by a motor vehicle, according to an autopsy conducted today by the Cook County medical examiner's office.
His death was ruled a homicide.
Ybarra was injured on October 9th at about 5:15 a.m. on the the same block as his home.
Ybarra had an argument with Lorena Rivera, of the 4100 block of South Archer Avenue who allegedly fled in a vehicle but returned and struck Ybarra.
Rivera was previously charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and leaving the scene of an accident, O'Brien said. He said officials are expected to upgrade those charges now that Ybarra has died and his death has been ruled a homicide.
Rivera remains at the Cook County Jail after being ordered held on $500,000 bail, according to records

Man fatally shot in Gage Park

A 24-year-old man died after being shot in the Gage Park neighborhood today.
The shooting happened shortly before 5:30 p.m. on the 2700 block of West 55th Street.
The man was identified as Oscar Cervantes, of the 3500 block of West 57th Place,

Guard slain in store robbery had worried about taking job

Reginald Lanier worried about his safety as a security guard at a grocery in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood, but he had lost his previous job and took this one to support his family, his brother said.
On Thursday night, Lanier was working at the Aldi store at 90th and Halsted streets when armed robbers shot him to death and injured a customer.
Two men wearing dark zip-up sweat shirts walked into the grocery store just before 7:30 p.m. Thursday, video surveillance shows. One approached a cashier while the other pulled a gun and shot Lanier, 54, in the head and upper torso after the guard confronted him.
The two gunmen fled the store with an unspecified amount of cash.
According to a police source, the same suspects are believed to have robbed another Aldi, at 47th and Ashland, on Oct. 28. There were no injuries during that robbery.
A 67-year-old customer was shot in the calf as she was gathering her groceries to leave the store. She was treated and released from the hospital Thursday night.
Police described robber as a black man with a medium build, in his 20s or 30s, 5-foot-11 to 6-foot-3. The other was a slender black man in his 40s or 50s, standing 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-10 and wearing glasses. In security video released by police, both appeared to be wearing all-black or dark-colored clothing, including dark-colored jackets and knit hats.
Reginald Lanier needed work after losing a railroad security job recently, said his brother, Gerald Lanier.
“He wasn’t too excited about it, but in today’s economy he had to support his family,” Lanier said. “He was concerned about the neighborhood and the job per se. The simple fact is that for that neighborhood, one security guard was not sufficient for a store in that area.”
Darlene Frye moved a few blocks from the Aldi about six months ago. She said the shooting has made her question her security.

Teen found shot dead in South Side alley

A 17-year-old boy was found dead in an alley after being shot in the head and torso Thursday night in the West Woodlawn neighborhood.
Police found him an alley the 6200 block of South Eberhart Avenue at about 10 p.m., according to a Chicago Police release.
Chicago Police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli said a man walking his dog found the boy and called police.
The Cook County medical examiner's office identified him Carlton Archer, of the 6500 block of South Rhodes Avenue.

Man killed nurse, stole her rings and used them to propose to his girlfriend

A Chicago man on parole for an attempted murder conviction beat an elderly nurse to death in her Bridgeport garage , stole her wedding and engagement rings and used them to propose to his girlfriend.
Raymond Harris, 36, was ordered held without bail on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery in the Oct. 22 slaying of Virginia Perillo, 73.
Prosecutors said Harris, who was paroled in May, attacked Perillo as she was getting out of her car in her garage in the 3300 block of South Parnell Avenue. He stole her purse and wedding and engagement rings.
A longtime nurse at Rush University Medical Center, Perillo suffered serious head wounds and never regained consciousness before dying the next day.
On the night of the assault, Harris went to a party wearing “brand new clothes” and showed the rings off to a witness, asking which of them he should use to propose to his girlfriend, Assistant State’s Attorney Melissa Howlett said.
He later proposed using both rings, Howlett said. Authorities tracked down the man’s fiancé and found the rings on her finger. They were later identified by Perillo’s family as the ones she wore.
Howlett also said that DNA recovered from a blood-stained men’s watch found inside Perillo’s car matched Harris.
Harris, of northwest suburban Carpentersville, was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Elgin.
He was convicted in 1997 of attempted murder and aggravated arson and sentenced to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, according to court records.
In that case, Harris broke into a Chicago home and raped and beat a woman “over a period of several hours,” then knocked her out, tied her up and set three separate fires in the home, Howlett said.
“The victim woke up with her legs on fire,” Howlett said. She suffered third-degree burns and was hospitalized for six weeks.
Harris had also been sentenced in 1993 to six years in prison for armed robbery, records show.

Man shot to death in West Pullman neighborhood

Police were questioning several witnesses after a 26-year-old man was shot to death Wednesday afternoon in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side.
The shooting occurred at 1 p.m. in the 200 block of West 113th Street, according to Calumet District Lt. Timothy Bickham.
The man was identified as Aries Shorter of the 300 block of East 131st Street, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Police said Shorter was sitting in a vehicle when a gunman opened fire, striking him multiple times. Shorter managed to drive himself to Roseland Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2 p.m

Mam shot dead in Gresham

At 2:40 a.m., police in the Gresham District found the unidentified man believed to be in his 30s with a gunshot wound to the head at Foster Park in the 1400 block of West 84th Street,

18-year-old shot in face killed

 Officers found an 18-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the face inside a vehicle at about 12:28 a.m. on LaSalle Street, between Garfield Boulevard and 57th Street.
The man was dead at the scene, a police spokesman said. The Cook County medical examiner's office confirmed the man's death, but withheld his identity until his family has been notified

Teen charged in slayings of 3 in Chatham

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the slayings of a 21-year-old Calumet City student killed as she picked up pastries for her 2-year-old’s birthday party and two other people.
Nicko Grayson, 17, of the 7000 block of South Perry Street, was charged with first-degree murder in the slayings of Chanda Thompson, 21, Shawn Russell, and a friend, Cortez Champion, both also 21.
Authorities said the victims were sitting in a car in a parking lot next to A Piece of Cake Bakery in the 400 block of East 87th Street about 5 p.m. Saturday when a gunman emerged from an alley and began shooting. The gunman then fled on foot, possibly to a nearby getaway vehicle

Workers find man's body stuffed in closet of South Side apartment

Construction workers doing work in an apartment building today in the Oakland neighborhood found the body of a man stuffed in a closet.
The unidentified body was found in the closet of an apartment in a multi-unit building on the 4000 block of South Lake Park Avenue shortly after noon.
The man appeared to be black and in his 40s, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
The man, who appeared to have sustained blunt head trauma, was found when workers in the building smelled a foul odor and found the body stuffed in the closet of an apartment.
Police have launched a death investigation and are awaiting autopsy results that could more conclusively give the cause of death before launching a homicide investigation

Man shot dead on street in Back of the Yards neighborhood

A man was fatally shot in the city's Back of the Yards neighborhood on the city's South Side.
Officers in the area actually heard gunshots and soon found the victim, 22, lying on the street in the 4500 block of South Marshfield Avenue at about 9:17 p.m. Sunday.
The man had been shot in the chest and abdomen

3 shot dead on South Side

A woman and two men were killed this evening in a shooting near a restaurant and bakery in the Chatham neighborhood on the city's South Side.
The shooting happened about 5 p.m. on the 8700 block of South King Drive.
A man and a woman died at the scene. Another man was wounded and taken in serious-to-critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died later.
As of 6 p.m., no one was in custody for the shooting and there was no vehicle description available.
The three victims, all thought to be in their 20s, were sitting in a car in a parking lot outside a Church's Chicken and a bakery.
Two or three of them apparently had just returned to the car from the bakery when a gunman emerged from a nearby alley on foot and shot up the vehicle.
They said the gunman fled the scene on foot, but may have had a getaway vehicle nearby.
As police investigated the scene, apparent relatives of the victims arrived and showed their grief.
Two women were seen collapsing into to tears outside a fish shop half a block away.
"Would you relax if one of your children just got murdered?" one of the women screamed as some of the officers tried to console her.
The same woman could be heard saying that today was the birthday of one the victims, but it was not clear who. She also said her son was only 21.
"Oh, it hurts so bad!" she sobbed into the shoulder of a woman who consoled her. "It hurts so deep. I don't know what I'm going to do."
The scene became even more tense when a man arrived and appeared to burst into tears upon hearing the news.
Later, one man attempted to punch another man on the scene, prompting officers to wrestle one to ground and lead him away in handcuffs, while other relatives pleaded with the men to  stop.

Man shot and killed on Far South Side

A man was shot to death in the Fernwood neighborhood this afternoon across the street from his home.
Lamaro Parker, 21, was declared dead at 2:42 p.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. The victim wsa shot in the chest in the 300 block of West 104th Place about 1:40 p.m..
Parker was shot across the street from his home

Man charged with wounding brother, killing 74-year-old who confronted him

A Lawndale man who shot his brother because of a dispute over clothing has been charged with fatally shooting a 74-year-old man who confronted him during the shooting, officials said. He also was charged with wounding his brother, who was left unable to walk after the shooting.
Elbert Fox, 32, of the 1500 block of South Harding Avenue, was charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Webster Gater and aggravated battery with a firearm in the shooting of his brother.
Fox was ordered held without bail today in a hearing before Cook County Criminal Court Judge Ramon Ocasio III, according to the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Fox had been arguing with his brother, age 30, for a week, accusing the brother of throwing away his clothes, said Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. Early on the morning of Oct. 29 the argument escalated at the building where Fox lives in a front apartment and his brother lives in a rear apartment, Conklin said.
The brother came home and was confronted by Fox, who took out a gun, and chased his brother outside, starting to shoot at him the street and striking him several times in the legs, Conklin said. While Fox was firing, Gater, who retired several years ago from working as a maintenance man in the area but still does maintenance work at a building next door, was about to go into a side door of the next-door building.
At some point, a witness heard someone yell at Fox, saying “No, don’t do it.”
Gater yelled at Fox, asking him what he was doing, and Fox stopped shooting at his brother and ran at Gater, Conklin said. The brother saw Fox run into the gangway between the buildings, and heard another shot. Fox shot Gater above the left eye and then ran into the alley, Conklin said.
Gater was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was declared dead at 6:35 a.m., about a half-hour after the shooting. An autopsy found he died from the gunshot wound to his head, which entered above his eye and exited out the back of his head, Conklin said.
Fox’s brother also was taken to Mount Sinai, where he was treated for gunshot wounds in which bullets went through both thighs, as well as a gunshot wound to one of his shins, Conklin said. The brother is unable to walk following the shooting, Conklin said.
Police later found a gun in the alley near the brother’s van, Conklin said. The gun matched shell casing found at the scene of the shootings.
After the shooting, Fox admitted to someone who investigators later interviewed that he had shot both his brother and Gater, Conklin said. He was found and arrested in Cicero, hiding in a van owned by a person now considered a witness in the case.
Gater, of the 2000 block of South 2nd Avenue in Maywood, was visiting friends in the neighborhood that he and his family had lived in for 30 years, according to his wife, Marion.
Gater, the father of five children, was a retired maintenance man. "He would just help people. He could fix your stove or your steps," his wife of 50 years said.
Fox is on federal supervised release after having been found guilty in Nebraska in a 2004 possession of crack-cocaine with intent to deliver case and released from federal prison in 2010, according to police and federal court records. His supervised released was to last until 2014.
Fox also has served time in Illinois prison on drug charges, according to police and court records. He has several drug convictions in Cook County dating back to 1998, according to court records.

Teen charged in slaying of Chicago police officer

A 15-year-old boy was charged tonight in the slaying of an off-duty Chicago police officer Friday.
The officer, identified as Hester Scott of the 8800 block of South Wallace Street, was found a little before noon in a sewer trap behind the house,. The death was believed to be domestic-related, police said. The officer apparently had been beaten.
An autopsy showed she died of trauma in an assault, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Authorities said Friday that a teen was being questioned about Scott’s death, and Saturday night said the 15-year-old boy had been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and armed robbery.