Boy, 13, slain in Chicago Lawn: 'Kids can't come outside and play'

James Davis was walking outside his Southwest Side house to a nearby Family Dollar Store Wednesday afternoon when he heard what sounded like a mixture of firecrackers and gunshots.

About a dozen people -- small children and adults -- outside the house at 62nd Street and Sacramento Avenue scattered, he recalled.
It wasn't until Davis, 50, returned about 10 to 20 minutes later when he saw the street cordoned off with yellow tape and the body of a young teen covered with a sheet in front of black wrought-iron gates across from his house.

Richard Gutierrez, 13, had been shot twice in the chest and died at the scene. His 16-year-old friend was wounded in the chest and reported in critical condition today at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

This morning, Davis stood in front of his residence and examined an apparent remnant of the shooting -- a bullet hole in a nearby window leading to his basement bedroom. After spotting that evidence following the shooting, Davis said, he spent the night sleeping on the hardwood floor upstairs, something he's done on numerous occasions to steer clear of windows and away from the line of fire.

He said the gang-ridden Chicago Lawn neighborhood is the scene of frequent shootings.

"It's terrible that kids can't come outside and play," said Davis, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 15 years. "There's no sugar-coating this. This is the real thing.”

Gutierrez and the other teen were walking east on 62nd when they turned on Sacramento at about 4:45 p.m. Wednesday and encountered two other males who asked them their gang affiliation, police said.

The two denied being in a gang, but at least one of the other two males opened fire.

Detectives have been investigating the shooting, but no charges have been filed.