Update: Man Shot Dead in West Pullman Neighborhood

Louis Wilson
26 years old
A man was shot in the armpit and killed in an alley at 11717 S. Peoria Ave just after 4 p.m. this afternoon in the West Pullman neighborhood. He walked out of the alley toward the street, where he collapsed. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center and pronounced dead at 4:44 p.m.

Bulls & Obama Riots

X picked me up at around 8 this morning to go and photograph on the West Side. Our first stop was in the 5400 block of West Chicago Ave. The stores were mostly still closed, so the streets were relatively quiet. Every once in awhile we would pass a block that showed some signs of life, people crowded around a community center, a church, or a dope spot. The area we drove through to get to the location was where the Bulls Riots were in 1992 and where the littler known Obama Riots took place on election night in 2008. X was there during the 2008 rioting. He said that people lit dumpsters on fire and pushed them into the street, threw lit fireworks into the air, flipped cars and honked their car horns. I tried to imagine it. On the other side was our destination, a stand-alone convenience store with a big parking lot. It was deserted except for a man walking his dog across, cutting off the distance to the corner. He eyed us suspiciously. Another woman walked up to the store, inspecting us out of the corner of her eye. I crossed the street and photographed. It began to rain. A boy rode his bike behind me on the sidewalk and a man looked on for a few minutes from the opposite corner. Otherwise, it was eerily quiet.

This odd sense of quiet in the bustling city followed us to the next location in the 3000 block of North Kolmar Ave. Kolmar is a boulevard style street lined with single family homes with traffic running north and south on either side of a large grassy patch with perfectly planted trees in the middle. Divai Serna and Stephanie Valeolavar were shot and killed in the yard of one of these houses. The only movement was a man walking his dog in the grass median. It was so quiet that X and I realized that we were whispering to each other. We laughed about it, but felt compelled to continue to talk in low voices. Maybe it was because I was pointing my camera at someone's house, someone who may be a relative of one of the victims.

Our last location was in the 3500 block of West Beach St. in Humbolt Park. Adrian Gates was shot and killed in the street on this sleepy residential street at about 7:15 PM. It was still light out. A family walked by while I was photographing. I could hear the laughter of the kids as they walked out of sight. Most of the houses on this and adjacent blocks displayed some kind of religious iconography, an interesting incongruity to the purpose of my visit.

Today we photographed at two sites where I was pointing my camera at someone's residence on a quiet side street. It posed an interesting challenge for me because I could not deny the life that existed inside those houses, and the importance they might have in the life that was lost on the street or in the yard in front of them. Maybe we were whispering out of respect for the people inside or maybe we were trying not to have to face the idea of the sadness that might remain within.

One Dead in Uptown Shooting

Aaron Carter
21 years old
Carter has died from his injuries after a shooting Wednesday in the 4500 block of North Magnolia Ave. in the North Side's Uptown neighborhood. He and a friend were involved in an argument with other men who fired from a vehicle. Police said Carter was shot in the chest at about 4:40 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 1:38 a.m. this morning at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

13-Year-Old Shot and Killed (1)

Robert Freeman
13 years old
A boy died tonight after being shot multiple times while riding his bicycle in the West Pullman neighborhood. The boy was at 115th Street and Perry Avenue when someone fired shots from a gangway at about 8:18 p.m. A neighbor said he saw a masked gunman stand over Freeman and continue firing into the boy's body. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition but was pronounced dead at 10:09 p.m.

Feeling Lied To (3+)

There seem to be some disparities between what I am finding reported and what has actually occurred. As X and I were looking up addresses yesterday, a few of the locations, three to be exact, came up with more than one homicide in the same incident. These additional people were never reported in the media and are therefore unaccounted for in statistics that have been reported. I have a sneaking suspicion that there are a whole lot more to be dug up.

Until I found out more information I will just note the discrepancies.

JD Tillis was listed along side Terrance Jackson in the 4400 block of W Wilcox St in Garfield Park. No age is known at this time.

Stephanie Valdeolivar was listed along side Divai Serna in the 3000 block of N Kolmar St. No age is known at this time.

Tameka Soloman was listed along side Lajuan Webb in the 4200 block of W. Cermak Rd. No age is known at the time.

That adds at least 3 more people onto the tally of 90 homicides so far this summer. I intend on looking into these names and reporting back with my findings. I find it hard to believe that people can just disappear without a trace. I wonder if these people are just that alone in life that no one cares about them or their passing. Another possibility is that some are being unreported to falsely lower the perceived homicide rate that Chicagoans already know is soaring.

Ambush at CTA Bus Stop

Nine people were wounded at a CTA bus turnaround at South Western Avenue and 79th Street on the South Side at 9:14 p.m. last night. The scene was described by onlookers as an apparent ambush in which three men jumped from the bushes and began shooting. Only one of the nine victims was seriously injured. Sources identified five of the victims as gang members (4 Gangster Disciples and 1 Vice Lord) which brings police to speculate that the shooting was likely gang-related.

While this project is focused on the homicides resulting from the violence in the city of Chicago, I find it important to also acknowledge that the actual number of deaths is a small percentage of those wounded in violence around the city even though the project does not directly address this. This is just one example of a terrible act of violence which thankfully did not result in any deaths.

Grape Soda

I am currently at ACRE artist residency in Steuben, WI for the week with limited access to internet, but I am going to try to keep this blog up as best I can while I am gone.

Yesterday morning, I went out to photograph with X. He picked me up and we headed to his district police department to look up some addresses. I got to sit in the interrogation room with him while he found some exact addresses for us to go and photograph. The computers in the interrogation rooms are bolted to the desks and look a bit like those watches that you can drop from a tall building and they would still hold up. I imagine these would be the computers the military uses on the battlefield. They look like they could endure almost anything. Once we got the addresses we hopped in X's car and were off to our first location.

We arrived at 2429 W Taylor Street (just west of Western Ave.) at about 9:00. The south side of the street was all new construction, red brick, single family homes in the style of row housing. 2429 sat right at the end of them. It was a small house with a tiny fenced in front yard. The house was painted a bright red, but the paint was weathered and peeling. This was Walter Lampeley's home. He was fighting with someone in front of the house when a car pulled up and the shots were fired that killed him. There was a small memorial set up in the ground beside a telephone pole in his honor. Directly in front of the memorial on the curb was a can of grape soda.

Our next location was 5900 W Fullerton Ave where the owner of Fullerton Pawners shot and killed Michael McMillan, one of three men that were trying to rob his store at gunpoint. When we arrived, the gates over the front door were still locked. As I was photographing, a young man came around the corner and stopped in his tracks. Through the viewfinder I saw him looking back at me. After a brief pause, he proceeded to walk up to the front door and unlock the gate and enter the store. I moved across the street to photograph from another angle and within minutes a man in a black car pulled up in front of me with his window rolled down. He asked me why I was photographing the store. In a moment of panic, I said I was a student doing an assignment for school. He looked slightly annoyed, but drove off turning in the alley behind the store. I imagine he was the owner. From what I understand, the owner of the shop may be facing charges for having an unregistered firearm. I assume that his situation is complicated. Fearing that as the killer (even if it was warranted) he may not like the idea of my project. Nervous that he might come back and question me more, we packed up and left. In reality, it may not have even been him.

Our next and last location for the day was 4635 W Belmont where Julian Gurierrez was found unresponsive on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound. The exact location was between a large apartment building and the side of a store that made it feel as though we were in a small cramped corridor. He was found right next to a a CTA bus stop. I set up my shot and waited for the next bus to come and remove the people from my frame. As we left the location, X pointed out all the signs that were in Polish.

Even after a successful day of shooting, I am feeling drowned in the exponential growth of the number of homicides. I have about 60 sites to still visit and unfortunately anticipate more to come.

Wish me luck!

Man Doused in Gasoline and Set on Fire (1)

July 24th


Alan Penny
61 years old
Penny was doused in gasoline and lit on fire on July 2, allegedly by his girlfriend, after the two had an argument. He succumbed to his injuries on Saturday night after suffering burns over sixty-five percent of his body. He was pronounced dead at 5:09 p.m. at Stroger Hospital. His girlfriend, Lisa Baywood, was arrested shortly after the incident at the apartment that they shared in the 3100 block of West Washington Blvd.

Update: July 23rd & 24th (3)

July 23rd


Kirklinn Fowlkes
19 years old
Fowlkes and two others were on a porch in the 2900 block of West 81st Street in the Southwest Side's Wrightwood neighborhood. They got into an argument with another group of people. Fowlkes was shot in the back, another person suffered a graze wound, and the third broke their wrist jumping from the porch to escape the melee. The shooting happened about 11:30 a.m. He was pronounced dead at 12:19 p.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center.
Cook County court records show Fowlkes was charged in June with felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a case that was still pending in court.


Raymon Sanchez
31 years old
The death of a man whose body found after firefighters extinguished a garage fire in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood has been ruled a homicide. Firefighters arrived in the 6100 block of South Richmond Street at about 6:25 a.m. Friday and found the garage engulfed in flames. The man's death was determined to have been caused by blunt head trauma in an assault.


July 24th


Keith King
20 years old
At 1:54 a.m., a man was found in the 8700 block of South Emerald Avenue in the Far South Side’s Gresham neighborhood with a gunshot wound to his head. The man was pronounced dead at 2:31 a.m. at Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers.

July 21st (2)

Kevin Banks
20s
Two people were shot at about 11:40 p.m. in the 8100 block of South Winchester Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. One of the men, Banks, was found unresponsive on the scene with a gunshot wound to his head. The other, an 18-year-old man was shot in the leg and is listed in stable condition.


Dwight Miller
27 years old
Miller received a call at about 10:10 p.m. asking him to step outside his house to meet someone on his porch in the 7800 block of South Union Avenue in the Far South Side’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood. When he stepped outside, he was shot several times in the face. He was found dead on the scene.

July 19th (1)

Terrance Dishman
19 years old
At about 9 pm, two people were reported shot on the 5100 block of South May Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. One of the victims, Dishman, was pronounced dead at 9:30 p.m. at Stroger Hospital from a gunshot wound to the back. 


July 18th (3)

Officer Michael R. Bailey
62 years old
Bailey, a police officer, was coming home from an overnight shift guarding Mayor Richard Daley's home when as many as three men approached him while cleaning his brand new Buick in the 7400 block of South Evans Avenue. Bailey announced he was an officer and there was an exchange of gunfire between Bailey and at least one of the men. He was shot a little after 6 a.m. The officer's son, who was home at the time, grabbed one of his father's guns and ran outside after he saw his father on the ground. It was unclear if the son fired any shots at the attackers. Bailey was pronounced dead at 6:41 a.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The shooting marks the third death of an off-duty Chicago police officer in the last two months.


Harvey Space
35 years old
Space, who was on parole, was shot to death as he sat in his car near his West Side home in the 4800 block of West Van Buren Street this morning. Space was seated in his car about 9:15 a.m. when someone pulled up nearby in a four-door brown car, got out, and shot at Space several times through the front windshield of his car. The attacker got back into the car and it drove off. Space was taken to Stroger Hospital and declared dead at 10 a.m. from multiple gunshot wounds. Space had scars from previous gunshot wounds, as well as numerous tattoos, according to the corrections department.


Jaymeon Wyatt
1 year old
Wyatt, just 21 months old, died of cranial cerebral injuries, blunt head trauma, and abuse. After an autopsy, his death has been ruled a homicide. The boy's mother, Doulesha Wyatt, 22, of the 100 block of East 49th Street, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her son. Wyatt was arrested after her son was taken to a local hospital with multiple injuries consistent with a beating. Jaymeon was pronounced dead Sunday afternoon at 1:05 pm at the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital.
DCFS has taken custody of two other children in the home as part of the probe of the Jaymeon's death.

July 17th (3)

Reggie Coles
29 years old
Police responded to a man who was shot in the face at 12:34 a.m. in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side. Coles was in the playground behind Delano Elementary School, located at 3937 W. Wilcox St., watching or playing basketball when a gunshot was fired into the crowd. He was pronounced dead at 1:11 a.m. at Mount Sinai Hospital.


Emmanuel Leeks
23 years old
At about 12:45 a.m. Saturday, Leeks and a 20-year-old woman were sitting in a vehicle in the 2100 block of North Springfield Avenue in the Logan Square neighborhood when someone fired several times into the car, striking him in the abdomen. The woman suffered a superficial wound. Leeks was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 4:11 p.m.


Myron Farris
38 years old
Farris was in his garage in the 4200 block of West 21st St. at about 2:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon in the West Side's Lawndale neighborhood when two gunmen approached and began shooting, striking him in the face. When police arrived they found him dead on the scene.

July 16th (1)

Quanda Crider
37 years old
A woman was found dead at 12:53 p.m. Friday in an abandoned building at 816 W. Marquette Rd. in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side. An autopsy Saturday determined Crider died from strangulation and blunt force trauma due to an assault.

July 15th (2)

Anthony Cox
16 years old
Cox was shot in the chest shortly before 7 a.m. in the 700 block of West 66th Place, a block from his home, in the Englewood neighborhood. Cox was out riding his motorbike when a gunman approached him on a bicycle. His family and friends believe Cox's brother was the target but that the gunman turned on him. Cox was pronounced dead at 7:46 a.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center. Police believe the shooting was gang-related.


Jeremiah Sterling
16 years old
Jeremiah Sterling ran away from a gunman pursuing him through a yard near his home in the Far South Side's West Pullman neighborhood, but the teen didn't make it. He was shot about 3:40 p.m. at least seven times, twice in the head, in an alley behind the boy’s home in the 11500 block of South May Street. Sterling was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn at 4:30 p.m.

July 11th (1)

Jerome Cole Muhammad
33 years old
At 12:53 a.m., police found Muhammed with gunshot wounds to his head, thighs, groin and arm in the 8300 block of South Hermitage Avenue in the South Side's Gresham neighborhood. The suspects came out of an alley, shot him in the legs and at least one of the killers stood over him and shot him in the face. They then fled east. Cole was pronounced dead at 1:35 a.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center. Police say Cole, a CTA mechanic, had no gang affiliation.

July 10th (1)

Kemanuel Montgomery
23 years old
At 10:38 p.m. on Saturday, police found a man stabbed on the street in the 7800 block of South Essex Avenue in the South Side's South Shore neighborhood. He was stabbed in the chest by a homeless man with who allegedly had an argument with a member of Montgomery's family. He was pronounced dead at 11:23 p.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center.

July 9th (1)

Eric Hughes
21 years old
Hughs was shot multiple times at 1053 W. 103rd St. just before 11:00 pm in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the Far South Side Friday night. He was shot through his thigh while he was inside a vehicle. He was pronounced dead at 11:52 p.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center

July 8th (1)

Jamonie Richards
18 years old
In the Oakland neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, in the 700 block of East Pershing Road about 12:07 a.m., Richards was shot and pronounced dead at the scene.

July 7th (4)

Michael Wade
25 years old
Wade was shot dead about 12:45 a.m. in the 11100 block of South Normal Avenue. Witnesses told police they heard shots and soon after saw the victim's vehicle crash. Wade suffered a gunshot wound to the left thigh and was pronounced dead at the scene.


Detrick Garrett
29 years old
At about 1:26 a.m., officers responded to the scene in the 4500 block of North Clarendon Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood on Chicago's North Side and found Garrett shot several times. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 2:04 a.m.



Officer Thor Soderberg
43 years old
Officer Soderberg was shot and killed at 3:48 p.m. Wednesday at 61st Street and Racine Avenue on the South Side, in a parking lot filled with police cars, which is across the street from the old Englewood 7th District police station now used by the department's Targeted Response Unit. He was returning to his car after his tour of duty when he was attacked from behind and killed with his own gun. The offender shot him multiple times, wounding him in his neck and chest. The offender was shot and wounded by police. The man accused of killing Soderberg is reported to have a lengthy rap sheet that includes nearly 20 arrests. Among those arrests are three felonies, 10 misdemeanors and three convictions. The arrests include several drug charges, and even an aggravated assault charge in 2006 for shooting his brother on July 4. Soderberg died at the scene and his body was taken to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

His name will soon be added to a Chicago Police Memorial near Soldier Field that honors officers who have died in the line of duty.


Lajuan Webb
32 years old
Police responded to the 4200 block of West Cullerton Street in the Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side at about 11:20 pm where they found two people shot. Webb was shot in the side and was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital where the woman remains in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds.

July 6th (1)

Marquita Jamieson
17 years old
Jamieson was stabbed to death during a Tuesday night knife fight with another female in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the Far South Side. She was stabbed in the neck at 7:39 p.m. by a female that she knew at her home in the 11000 block of South Loomis Street. Police said the two teens were having a verbal altercation that escalated over a fight that their relatives were having over a boy. Jamieson was reportedly walking away when she was grabbed and stabbed by the offender, who is also 17. Jamieson was pronounced dead at 8:28 p.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Since I've Been Gone (21)

I arrived back in the US last night to find that 21 people have been killed in homicides across the city of Chicago in the past two weeks, including one police officer. Returning to such a staggering number of killings reminded me of the motivation to complete this project. I hope that by photographing these sites I can make this problem somehow a little bit more tangible. Reports say that general crime is down, but that homicides are up 5% from last year. The following posts are a record of the incidents that occurred since I've been gone.

Ludjana Dido

a memorial at the site of Ludjana Dido's death

Monday night, I went to photograph the site of 20-year-old Ludjana Dido's death at 2700 W Roscoe. From what I understand there was a gang fight and in the melee, Dido was struck by a car several times and killed. She was 5 1/2 months pregnant. At first glance, the area where this happened seemed so unlikely. 2700 W Roscoe sits at the end of a street that dead ends into the river. Almost directly across from the police station off Western Ave. At the dead end, there is a construction zone and most of the area is blocked off by high fences. On both sides of the street are office buildings. It doesn't seem like a likely place for gangs to clash with each other, but the longer I was there photographing, the more foot traffic I noticed. Just beyond the construction zone there is a park, it's hard to tell that it's there because of all the fences etc. It made a bit more sense after that discovery. When I was finishing up photographing there, a car full of 20 something year old guys pulled up with a bag full of firecrackers. Each had there own 40oz malted liquor bottle. They called out to me and told me not to leave just because of them. I took a few more photos, but I was done anyway.

Blogging Hiatus ( July 7th-22nd )

I will be abroad for the next two weeks and will be unable to keep this blog up while I am away. Check back after July 22nd for the updates from when I was gone and new content.

I did go out to photograph yesterday and will be going out tomorrow morning before I leave. I will have to post my stories when I get back.

More Shootings On the South & West Sides (2)

The man was one of at least 12 people shot on the South and West Sides Monday evening into the overnight hours.


Shaudee Nance
18 years old
Police responded to the 7000 block of South Hermitage Avenue about 9:04 p.m. and found the Nance with a gunshot wound. He was was pronounced dead at Mt. Sinai Hospital.


Marshal Reed
21 years old
At midnight today, two men were shot in the 11600 block of South Racine Avenue. They were sitting in their vehicle when someone in a dark Cadillac shot at them before fleeing. Both men were taken to Advocate Christ where Reed later died. The other man remains in stable condition.

Update: 4th of July (5)

fireworks from an East Village rooftop

While fireworks burst loudly in the sky last night in celebration of our nations birth, there were at least 10 13 injured across the city in shootings and stabbings. Here are the fatalities from yesterday afternoon through the night...





Carl Roberson
23 years old
Roberson was shot about 7:57 a.m. by a man who got out of a white vehicle on Sunday morning in the 700 block of North Lotus Avenue in the Austin neighborhood. His case was ruled a homicide today. He was pronounced dead at 10:32 a.m. Sunday at Mt. Sinai Hospital. An autopsy conducted today determined that Roberson died of a gunshot wound to his abdomen.



Deandre Murphy
26 years old
Murphy was fatally shot in the 1600 block of West 56th Street in the South Side's West Englewood neighborhood just after 3:45 p.m. Two others were also seriously wounded in this shooting. The victims were shot in at least one moving car that came to rest near 57th Street and Ashland Avenue. Murphy was dead on the scene.


Jerry Seals
34 years old
Police found Seals with a gunshot wound to his head at about 10:25 p.m. in the 6200 block of South Laflin Street in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood. He was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:07 p.m.


Andrew Hartrick
37 years old
At about 1 a.m., police responded to the 6400 block of South Paulina Avenue, also in Englewood, and found two men shot. Both men were in a vehicle when someone began shooting in their direction. Hartrick was struck in the neck and was pronounced dead at the scene.


DeShawn McNeil
35 years old
The most recent homicide occurred at 5:06 a.m. this morning. McNeil was found dead in the 7900 block of South Ingleside Avenue in the East Chatham neighborhood after being shot in the chest. He was pronounced dead at 10:53 a.m. at Jackson Park Hospital.

1 Dead, 9 Injured in Incidents Across the City Last Night

One man is dead and at least nine people were injured in separate violent city-wide incidents late Saturday and early this morning. These incidents included 6 shootings and 3 stabbings.


Paul Garrette
22 years old
At about 1 a.m. Garrette was discovered in a backyard in the 8400 block of South Cregier Avenue in the Stony Island Park neighborhood. He had been shot. He was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn but succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 1:59 a.m.

Update: Friday, July 2nd/Saturday July 3rd (2)

Friday, July 2nd


Walter Lampeley
28 years old
Lampeley was shot and killed at his home in the 2400 block of West Taylor Street in the West Side Lawndale neighborhood late this evening. At about 11:54 p.m., he was fighting another person when a vehicle pulled up, suspects exited, and shots were fired at him. Lampeley suffered a gunshot wound to his neck and was pronounced dead at 12:56 a.m. at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Saturday, July 3nd


Xiaohong Song
50 years old
At 1:43 a.m., Song got off the bus following a trip to a casino boat and was approached by two male suspects in the 200 block of West 23rd Street in the Chinatown neighborhood. They grabbed him from behind and strangled him to death.

Week 5

click image for a much better view

This week, Chicago only saw 5 homicides (3 shot, 1 strangling, and 1 case of abuse). This number is relatively low in comparison to previous weeks. With the exception of 1-year-old Jamar Harris, the victims were older than average bringing the average age of death up to 26.5-years-old. The Taste of Chicago saw some violence last night with 3 stabbings. Police identified one of the victims as a known gang member. Let's hope that's it for the Taste.

I wish you a happy and safe 4th of July weekend.