chicagotribune--2020-06-26--A trying first half of 2020 included spike in shootings and homicides in Chicago

The West Side ’ s Harrison District , which led the city in homicides for all of 2019 , is @ @ @ @ @ lead Chicago in killings .
So far in 2020 , Harrison is ranked first in @ @ @ @ @ more than at the same point last year , official CPD statistics through Sunday show @ @ @ @ @ in Harrison were up by 40 % this year at 173 , compared with 124 @ @ @ @ @ year , according to the statistics .

Tuesday Wilson reacts while hearing from a relative on the phone about the arrest of a suspect who may have fatally shot her son, 16-year-old Charles Riley, June 24, 2020, in Chicago. Charles and a 17-year-old friend were both fatally shot while visiting another friend in the 7900 block of South Luella Avenue on June 20. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Days into grieving over the shooting death of her teenage son, Tuesday Wilson smiled while on her cellphone as she listened to some rare good news for a mother in her position.
“Thank you, thank you,” she told a relative before hanging up.
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She then turned to a Tribune reporter standing on her doorstep. “They have the killer,” she said in a relieved tone. “He took an innocent kid’s life. I don’t under understand...What was his motive? Right now, I just got a phone call that he’s been captured, and that’s a good thing.”
The shooting took place on a violent weekend when more than 100 people were shot, including at least 14 killed, contributing to a large spike in gun violence in the first half of this year in Chicago.
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Through Sunday, the city saw a jump of more than 25% in the number of homicides, reaching 295, which is 60 more than the same period a year ago, according to a review of crime statistics. Ninety-six of those occurred during a 28-day stretch that covered most of June, the statistics show.
Shooting incidents with at least one victim shot fatally or nonfatally jumped by almost 40% through Sunday, totaling 1,250.
Unrelenting gun violence continued to rattle parts of the South and West sides despite stay-at-home restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
And as the weather has gotten warmer and some of those guidelines were loosening, George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minnesota on Memorial Day sparked nationwide outrage, exacerbating an already fractured relationship between law enforcement and Black communities here, experts have said.
Many of those Chicago neighborhoods have borne the brunt of the violence in the first half of 2020, much of it fueled by frenzied weekends like the one that cost Wilson her 16-year-old son, Charles Riley.
Melissa McClure hugs her 16-year-old son, Matthew, as they attend an outdoor prayer service near their home in the South Chicago neighborhood on June 26, 2020, in Chicago. Two of Matthew's friends, 16-year-old Charles Riley and 17-year-old Jasean Francis, were fatally shot outside the McClures' home on June 20. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Charles was shot and killed Saturday in the South Chicago community, along with his friend Jasean Francis, 17, after they had gone to a mall. Just an hour later, a 3-year-old boy was shot and killed on the West Side, and a 13-year-old girl was killed by a stray bullet just blocks from where the toddler was slain.
The West Side’s Harrison District, which led the city in homicides for all of 2019, is once again on pace to lead Chicago in killings. So far in 2020, Harrison is ranked first in homicides with 42, eight more than at the same point last year, official CPD statistics through Sunday show. Overall, shooting incidents in Harrison were up by 40% this year at 173, compared with 124 through the same point last year, according to the statistics.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 16 Myesha James, center, the mother of 3-year-old Mekhi James, hugs Charles Morrison, Mekhi's father, during a vigil for their son in the Austin neighborhood on June 22, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
The neighboring Austin District, where the 3-year-old, Mekhi James, was killed, saw a 56% jump in shooting incidents through Sunday with 86, a figure 31 more than last year, the statistics show. The Ogden District, which touches the West and Near Southwest sides with Little Village and North Lawndale, saw a jump as well.
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In the Englewood District on the South Side, shootings were up by 68% in the first half of the year over the same period in 2019, from 73 to 123 through Sunday. Homicides increased slightly from 23 to 25, the statistics show.
Limits of the statistics
Crime experts generally caution against making year-to-year statistical comparisons, arguing that long-term trends give a better understanding of how the level of violence in a city has changed over time.
And 2020 is an outlier in terms of major news events affecting crime in major American cities, they have said.
Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist with University of Missouri at St. Louis, cited a new study he worked on showing how the overall number of homicides in five dozen U.S. cities during the COVID-19 pandemic went down in April compared with an average over the prior three years. There was also a homicide drop in May when some cities began lifting restrictions.
Floyd’s death sparked protests in cities across the country, some of which gave way to looting and property damage, including in Chicago.
Rosenfeld said the fallout could likely contribute to the rise in violence through summer “over the three-year average.” He noted how homicide rates in some cities went up following other highly publicized deaths of other African Americans caused by white police officers, including the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a cop in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 and when the video of Laquan McDonald’s fatal shooting by a Chicago police officer was released one year later.
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“We’re currently in an unprecedented period of social unrest with respect to police brutality, and there’s every reason to believe we will again see a homicide rise coincide with the current period of unrest,” Rosenfeld said, adding the continued easing of coronavirus restrictions could also be a factor.
“Instead of the police withdrawing from the community, what we see, I think, is communities withdrawing even further from the police,” he said. “Not trusting the police to respond fairly or effectively, taking matters into their own hands when disputes arise or other problems emerge.”
So far in 2020, Chicago isn’t the only big city seeing spikes in violence. In New York, a city that took a big hit from the coronavirus and which also saw major civil unrest after the Floyd killing, homicides are up by 25% over last year, hitting 159 through June 14 compared with 127 in 2019.
Philadelphia has seen homicides jump by 20% through Sunday with 180, or 30 more than last year at this point. Shooting victims — people shot fatally or non-fatally — there were up 25% over the year-earlier period, according to Philadelphia police statistics.
Turbulence and leadership change
In addition to the twin challenges of COVID-19 and civil unrest after Floyd’s death, Chicago’s police force went through some of its most significant changes in the department’s history in the first half of the year.
In late January, then-interim Superintendent Charlie Beck unveiled a massive restructuring plan designed to better combat violence by moving hundreds of detectives, narcotics and gang officers under the control of deputy chiefs and commanders who oversee patrol functions. Beck also helped start a new office to carry out policing reforms required by a federal consent decree, the Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform.
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Then in April, Mayor Lori Lightfoot hired former Dallas police Chief David Brown as Beck’s permanent replacement. Though it’s only two months into his tenure, Brown’s start has been a rocky one.
Chicago police Superintendent David Brown, center, observes the 1st District's Mass Transit Room operation on June 25, 2020. The department hopes it will quicken police response within the district and throughout the public transit system. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago police Superintendent David Brown speaks during an interview with the Chicago Tribune on May 13, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
With the weather warming up, protesters outraged over Floyd’s death took to the streets across the U.S., Chicago included. But in the last weekend of May, demonstrations downtown turned violent, and the city saw looting and other crimes unfold. The last weekend of May saw the height of the looting here. And more than 80 people were shot that weekend, including at least 15 killed on May 31 alone, the most for a single day in Chicago in years.
The department declined to make Brown available for an interview for this story. But last month, he told the Tribune that coming from Dallas, a city half the size of Chicago, he knew how difficult his job would be considering the level of violence here is “pretty in your face.”
“I understand Chicago has kind of been used to it for decades. But from an outsider’s perspective, it’s a lot to digest how much it happens, how often it happens,” he said in mid-May. “Not just the shootings, the murders are just unacceptably high.”
While Brown has only been in charge of Chicago’s force for two months, he’s talked about the possibility of starting a permanent citywide unit devoted to stopping flare-ups in violence and other crime, a controversial idea that has come and gone in the department in recent years. This unit, Brown envisioned, could be more of a “significant community policing-oriented unit,” requiring its officers to work on community service projects during their shifts when they’re not out making arrests.
But on Monday, after the violent weekend that left more than 100 people shot, Brown stuck to familiar themes, blaming “gangs, guns and drugs” as well as short jail stays for defendants. He also said his officers are “human and they’re tired,” acknowledging they’ve worked multiple 12-hour days and through their days off in the last three weeks since the fallout over Floyd’s death.
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Changes in outreach efforts
Also on the front lines of the anti-violence fight are street outreach workers, who work independent of the police to mediate gang conflicts and connect residents with social services.
The COVID-19 outbreak turned street outreach teams into public health workers, educating people congregating at street corners who weren’t obeying stay-at-home orders, said Norman Livingston Kerr, who heads the city’s Office of Violence Prevention.
In an interview with the Tribune, Kerr acknowledged the difficult job of street outreach workers to stay ahead of all the shootings as violence has spiked in the last few months as their jobs have gone back to normal.
“With the city opening up, there’s more large gatherings. So there’s more late-night parties. There’s more things that are happening at these events with large numbers of people,” Kerr said. “Sometimes you can’t anticipate them. Sometimes these events are pop-up events where they just happen really quickly.”
Many of the workers have pushed to work almost around the clock to try to get control of the violence problem, he said.
“It’s definitely a challenge,” Kerr said. “We have to be mindful of what they’re going through right now and making sure we’re supporting them as much as possible.”
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A lost son
Tuesday Wilson, whose 16-year-old son was slain last weekend, described him as a typical kid. Charles went to Hyde Park Academy High School and liked to play video games and football, she said.
“He didn’t really have to fear for his safety, because wherever he went his parents, his dad made sure that he was in the car ...” Wilson said.
An alley entrance to a home in the 7900 block of South Luella Avenue is shown June 24, 2020, in Chicago. On June 20, 16-year-old Charles Riley and 17-year-old Jasean Francis were fatally shot at the location while visiting a friend. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Standing outside the front vestibule of her apartment building in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, Wilson said she was still shaken and struggling to understand why Charles was gone and why Chicago’s ongoing scourge had ended his life. Charles was concerned about the shootings around him, she said, but it had not given way to worry.
“He wasn’t a violent child,” Wilson said. “Everybody is worried about their surroundings ... but why worry about it if you’re not in it?”
Chicago Tribune reporters Rosemary Sobol and Annie Sweeney contributed.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-26--Man, 19, charged after 2 teen boys slain Saturday

“ They don ’ t ever go out into the neighborhood because it ’ s so dangerous , ” he @ @ @ @ @ their mom , can we just go down to the store — it couldn ’ @ @ @ @ @ a half a block away — can we just go down to the store to @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s what they did .
”

A 19-year-old Englewood neighborhood man is facing murder charges following the killings of two teens on the South Side on Saturday during one of the most violent weekends Chicago has seen in years, police said.
Laroy Battle, 19, of the 6100 block of South Racine Avenue, was charged with two counts of murder, possession of a controlled substance, police said.
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Battle, who was also wanted on a warrant, was arrested by the Great Lakes Fugitive Task Force at 11:45 a.m. in suburban Schiller Park Battle after being positively identified as the shooter, police said.
Battle was scheduled to appear for a bond hearing Friday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
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Laroy Battle, 19. (Chicago police)
The Police Department announced his arrest on Wednesday, four days after 16-year-old Charles Riley and 17-year-old Jasean Francis were shot and killed outside a friend’s home in the South Chicago neighborhood.
Shortly after the killings, the department released video images of the alleged killer, though police wouldn’t say Wednesday afternoon whether the suspect arrested was the same person depicted in those images.
The shooting happened in an alley shortly after 5 p.m. in the 7900 block of South Luella Avenue. Francis was shot in the back, chest and left hand while Riley was struck in his back and left flank, police said. Both teens were pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Riley and Francis were with their friend and had just gone to a mall, Brendan Deenihan, CPD’s chief of detectives, said Sunday.
“They don’t ever go out into the neighborhood because it’s so dangerous,” he said. “They asked their mom, can we just go down to the store — it couldn’t have been more than a half a block away — can we just go down to the store to buy some candy? And that’s what they did.”
The boys had almost reached their gangway to return home when someone ran up and shot them “for no reason at all,” Deenihan said.
“These kids are not criminals, they’re not gang members, they have nothing to do with the ongoing disputes out there and they just get gunned down for no reason at all,” he said.
The teens were among 106 shot, 14 fatally, including a 3-year-old boy, during one of the most violent weekends Chicago had experienced in recent memory.
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jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-25--Pritzker IEPA approves move of scrap shredder to predominantly Latino neighborhood

Jordan Abudayyeh , the governor ’ s chief spokeswoman , said the administration ’ s “ hands were tied ” @ @ @ @ @ law .
She took a swipe at “ statewide or national ” advocates , suggesting @ @ @ @ @ to propose legislation that would address “ a broader regulatory problem that most severely impacts @ @ @ @ @ low-income communities — especially those of color .
”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is the last hurdle for a troubled but clout-heavy scrap shredder seeking to move from wealthy, largely white Lincoln Park to a low-income, predominantly Latino neighborhood on Chicago’s Southeast Side.
Brushing aside opposition from neighborhood groups and elected officials, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration on Thursday granted General Iron Industries a permit to build a new scrap yard along the Calumet River in the East Side neighborhood.
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Pritzker appointees at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency said state law gave them no choice, despite the company’s repeated violations of federal and local health laws.
Moving General Iron would rid the city’s North Side of metallic odors and unsightly piles of flattened cars, twisted rebar and used appliances. But community leaders on the Southeast Side contend Pritzker is perpetuating environmental racism by approving the company’s new location in a neighborhood that has struggled to recover since the steel industry abandoned it during the 1980s.
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Air quality monitoring shows East Side residents already breathe some of the city’s dirtiest air. Moreover, federal officials are overseeing the cleanup of a Superfund site in the neighborhood, as well as dozens of yards contaminated with toxic manganese and lead pollution traced to past and present industries.
“Lincoln Park neighbors have been fighting (General Iron) for years,” said Gina Ramirez, a Southeast Side resident and Midwest outreach manager for the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council. “If it is not good enough for that neighborhood, why is it good for the Southeast Side?”
General Iron indefinitely closed on the North Side after a May 18 explosion — the second in five years.
During the five months before the explosion, a Chicago Department of Public Health inspector cited the company with health violations on 11 separate days — compared with one citation during former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s eight years in office.
All of the inspections during Lightfoot’s tenure revealed “untreated emissions” escaping the company’s scrap shredders along the Chicago River near Clybourn Avenue and Cortland Street.
In each of her reports, the inspector described smelling “the pungent odor of sweet metal that burns my nostrils.” She also suggested that pollution-control equipment required last year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency failed to properly control noxious emissions from General Iron’s shredders.
Now it will be up to Lightfoot and her hand-picked health officials to determine if General Iron stays in Chicago.
The health department recently adopted new regulations for General Iron and other scrap operations. Lawyers for community activists point out the rules require less stringent air quality monitoring than the city required of companies handling manganese and petroleum coke in the same neighborhood.
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General Iron posted a statement online contending its East Side operation would be the cleanest scrap shredder in Illinois and neighboring states.
“The (state) permit imposes strict conditions that will ensure we keep our commitment to respect and protect air quality and public health,” the company statement said.
A diverse coalition of neighborhood groups and elected officials urged Pritzker to block General Iron from moving to the Southeast Side.
Jordan Abudayyeh, the governor’s chief spokeswoman, said the administration’s “hands were tied” by judicial interpretations of state law. She took a swipe at “statewide or national” advocates, suggesting it was up to them to propose legislation that would address “a broader regulatory problem that most severely impacts the health and safety of low-income communities — especially those of color.”
Environmental groups pushed legislation in 2019 intended to combat environmental racism but the bill stalled in committee. In formal comments to the Illinois EPA, environment and community groups cited multiple sections of existing state law that Pritzker aides could have invoked to deny General Iron a new permit.
“Now that the state has rubber-stamped this permit, we need the city to step up and prevent this threat from coming to a vulnerable community,” said Olga Bautista, co-founder of the Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke.
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On the North Side, General Iron is one of the last industries on a stretch of the Chicago River that during the last century was dominated by steel mills and leather tanneries. Now it stands out amid gentrified neighborhoods, upscale commercial strips and Lincoln Yards, a collection of former industrial parcels acquired by Chicago-based Sterling Bay for mixed-use redevelopment.
Family members who owned General Iron for four generations have yet to find a buyer willing to pay what they are asking for the 21.5 acres they own along the North Branch of the river.
mhawthorne@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-27--Deceased Evergreen Park pediatrician faked routine childhood vaccinations, falsified medical records

Deceased Evergreen Park pediatrician faked routine childhood vaccinations, falsified medical records, lawsuit claims

“ We believe this impacts hundreds of kids , not just the 50 we have , ” he said .
@ @ @ @ @ they choose to be part of the class , that ’ s up to them @ @ @ @ @ least they need to know there ’ s an issue and need to be tested @ @

Exterior of the building at 3830 W. 95th Street in Evergreen Park where Dr. Van Koinis had a practice. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
The estate of an Evergreen Park pediatrician whose apparent failure to vaccinate children came to light after his death by suicide last year is being sued by the parents of his patients.
A class-action complaint filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court accuses Dr. Van Koinis of faking routine vaccinations, falsifying medical records and failing to inform patients and their parents of his alleged subterfuge.
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The Cook County sheriff’s office launched an investigation into the deceased physician’s vaccination practices last year after discovering a suicide note in his car that “seemingly confessed to maintaining improper patient charts and falsifying patient immunization records,” according to a letter Sheriff Tom Dart sent the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health earlier this year.
The sheriff’s office publicly announced its investigation into Koinis in February and notified the parents of his patients about a month later that their children may not have received the vaccinations they’d sought and even seen him administer.
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Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Sophia Ansari said in March that of 14 former patients who had shared the results of their blood tests with the agency, only one had full immunity to the diseases for which they thought they’d been vaccinated. The other 13 ranged from having no immunity to partial immunity, she said.
As a result of the discrepancies, which suggested that children may have been exposed to vaccine-preventable diseases and that schools may have been provided inaccurate student vaccination records, the sheriff’s office urged Koinis’ former patients to contact their health care providers and get their immunizations checked.
All students in Illinois must be vaccinated for preventable communicable diseases and provide local school officials proof of vaccination to enroll, although exemptions to the law exist both for medical conditions and religious objections.
Jessica Czarnecki, the only plaintiff named in the class-action complaint filed against Koinis, is one of dozens of parents who have sought antibody titer tests to verify their children’s vaccination status, her attorney, Jim Rollins, said.
In Czarnecki’s case, the tests revealed that her daughter lacked immunity to all of the diseases she was supposed to have been vaccinated against, Rollins said.
“She felt betrayed,” the attorney said. “She felt like she put her trust and her kid’s health in this guy’s hands, and he really betrayed them.”
An attorney who represents Koinis’ estate did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
The class-action complaint seeks reimbursement for any out-of-pocket medical costs patients’ families may have incurred for titer tests and re-immunizations as well as damages for pain and suffering.
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It’s not immediately clear how much the deceased pediatrician’s estate is worth or whether a medical malpractice policy would pick up the cost of any damages that may be awarded.
“Our position is someone needs to be responsible,” Rollins said.
The attorney said about 50 people with stories like Czarnecki’s comprise the group that is suing Koinis’ estate, but that he suspects far more alleged victims are out there.
“We believe this impacts hundreds of kids, not just the 50 we have,” he said. “And whether or not they choose to be part of the class, that’s up to them. But at the very least they need to know there’s an issue and need to be tested.”
The sheriff’s office said in a statement Friday that roughly 60 former patients had contacted the agency since it announced its investigation into Koinis’ vaccination practices earlier this year.
The results of titer tests submitted by former patients have remained consistent with the initial batch in that some reported no immunity while others showed partial immunity to vaccinated diseases, the agency said.
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Koinis, 58, of Chicago, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a Cook County forest preserve in Palos Township last September.
A note found in the doctor’s vehicle detailed regrets over his vaccination practices going back almost 10 years and provided a possible motivation for his death, the sheriff said.
Koinis, a well-liked pediatrician who had been licensed to practice in Illinois since 1991, was a known advocate for homeopathic medical techniques who was frequently sought out by people opposed to vaccination, Dart said.
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Rollins said Czarnecki was not aware of Koinis’ apparent reputation with anti-vaccination devotees and had taken her daughter to him because he was her own pediatrician when she was a child.
“He was a trusted family physician of theirs for a long time,” the attorney said. “Jessica’s mom brought Jessica there and she just continued the tradition.”
Rollins said Koinis never said anything to his client nor gave her any literature that would have led her to suspect he opposed vaccination.
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“It was like any other normal pediatrician’s office,” the attorney said.
The sheriff’s criminal investigation into Koinis’ medical practice remains ongoing, officials said. To date, no co-conspirators have been identified.
zkoeske@tribpub.com
Twitter @ZakKoeske


chicagotribune--2020-06-27--FBI: ‘Several members of public’ inside Loop bank as heist unfolded, SWAT responded

No “ physical injuries '' have been reported , said Johnson , who said there was currently no known threat @ @ @ @ @ the situation has been resolved.
‘ '

Law enforcement investigate inside the PNC Bank branch in the 100 block of North Franklin Street, after arresting a suspected bank robber, June 26, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
A bank robbery that devolved into a SWAT incident Friday evening in the Loop was under control, with the arrest of a suspect, officials said.
No one was hurt during the situation that occurred at 1 N. Franklin St., a PNC Bank branch, shortly after 5 p.m.
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“There were several members of the public inside the business,” at the time of the “robbery attempt,” FBI spokeswoman Siobhan Johnson said in a statement.
No “physical injuries'' have been reported, said Johnson, who said there was currently no known threat to the community and “the situation has been resolved.‘'
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SWAT officers were also called to the scene, according to Officer Steve Rusanov, a police spokesman.
SWAT officers are often called for incidents involving hostages or someone who could be armed, who refuses to exit a building when officers ask them to.
About 6:20 p.m., several people who appeared to be staffers of the bank were in the lobby, as three uniformed Chicago police officers remained inside the bank, one of whom was taking pictures.
Three teller stations, two self-serve stations and at least one booth on the bank’s first floor were visible from the street.
No ambulances were on the scene, but two unmarked and one police SUV were stationed outside the high-rise, at Madison and Franklin.
Check back for details.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-27--Man convicted in 1980 killing of off-duty Hammond cop resentenced to 40 years in prison

Prosecutor Peter Villarreal said Friday that Hill stole the car used to drive the two others to the hotel , @ @ @ @ @ two guns were used during the incident .
When Hill brought Catlett and Mayes to @ @ @ @ @ in the incident , Villarreal said .

A man convicted in a decades-old killing of an off-duty Hammond police officer was resentenced to 40 years in prison during a virtual hearing Friday.
James Hill, 57, was sentenced in October 2018 to 47 years in prison after a jury found him guilty in a Nov. 14, 1980 robbery that left Lawrence Pucalik dead.
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Pucalik, a Hammond police officer, was working a side security job at a Holiday Inn in Hammond when two men with handguns came in and demanded money from the register. Pucalik walked into the lobby, and as he attempted to access his firearm, he was shot by one of the suspects, according to court records.
Prosecutors said Hill was the getaway driver for the other two men who went inside, but Hill maintained his innocence.
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Hill was first charged in the case in 2012, and he was joined by two co-defendants, Pierre Catlett, 69, and Larry Mayes, 70. Then he was charged again in 2016.
Catlett was brought to Indiana in 2018 to face charges in Pucalik’s death after serving a lengthy Illinois prison sentence. He’s pleaded not guilty.
Mayes was found incompetent to stand trial after he had a stroke, attorneys said.
In March 2019, Hill filed an appeal, through his public defender R. Brian Woodward, asking for a new trial. Hill alternatively asked to have his sentence reduced to 30 years.
In his appeal, Hill questioned testimony about a confession that prosecutors said Hill made in 1981 about driving the “killer car.”
“Setting aside the unsigned, unrecorded confession that laid dormant for 30 years, the entire case against Hill was circumstantial,” the appeal states.
“There were no eyewitnesses to his involvement, no cooperating co-defendants and no third parties to whom he admitted any involvement,” according to the appeal. “Because there was no overwhelming independent evidence of Hill’s guilt, his conviction should be reversed and remanded for a new trial.”
The collective errors, among others, denied Hill a fair trial, according to the appeal.
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“The state used improper hearsay deposition testimony, the trial court denied the defense an opportunity to present exculpatory evidence, Hill was implicated in a kidnapping, and the lead investigators opined on Hill’s guilt,” the appeal stated.
On Friday, Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez said the appellate court upheld the jury’s conviction for felony murder but asked the trial court to resentence Hill.
Hill’s attorney Scott King said given that Hill was 17 years old at the time of the incident and because he drove the car, Hill should be resentenced to 30 years.
“He was the only one who did not even enter the venue where the shooting occurred,” King said.
Prosecutor Peter Villarreal said Friday that Hill stole the car used to drive the two others to the hotel, and that his bag and two guns were used during the incident. When Hill brought Catlett and Mayes to the hotel he became involved in the incident, Villarreal said.
Then, Hill drove away from the scene, hitting a curb so that a hubcap fell off a wheel, Villarreal said.
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“The actions ... showed he was very active in this scheme,” Villarreal said.
Villarreal asked for the judge to resentence Hill anywhere between 40 to 47 years.
Hill, wearing a striped white and black jumpsuit, addressed the court before his new sentence was announced. He maintained his innocence and called the prosecution “vindictive.”
The case against him, Hill said, was a ploy to block a lawsuit he filed related to the previous times he was tried in the case.
“I was not at the scene of this crime,” Hill said. “I was in bed asleep.”
Vasquez agreed that Hill was tried multiple times in the case, but the evidence presented in the trial proved Hill’s involvement, which was “a big deal.”
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“You were part of a robbery that led to a person’s death,” Vasquez said. “Someone died, a child was left without a father and Mr. Hill was involved.”
Vasquez resentenced Hill to 40 years.


chicagotribune--2020-06-27--Aurora man who barricaded himself in house facing felony charges

When officers arrived , Jones was barricaded inside his house .
After officers determined one other person was inside the @ @ @ @ @ for them to come outside .
A woman walked out of the home uninjured around @ @ @ @ @ .

Aurora police at the scene of a man barricaded in his home on the 500 block of Bangs Street on Wednesday. The man surrendered peacefully after an hours-long standoff. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
An Aurora man is facing several felony charges after he barricaded himself in a house with a weapon for several hours before surrendering peacefully Wednesday on the city’s East Side, officials said.
Dreyke Jones, 26, has been charged with armed violence, possession of a firearm by a street gang member, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon with a previous felony conviction, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in public and possession of a firearm without a FOID card, all felonies, Aurora police officials said.
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Dreyke Jones (Kane County Jail / HANDOUT)
Jones, of the 500 block of Bangs Street, was also charged with violating his bail bond with possession of a firearm, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and criminal damage to a memorial, all felonies, and misdemeanor aggravated assault, officials said.
Aurora police spokesman Paris Lewbel said Jones allegedly pointed a gun at another person earlier Wednesday morning before barricading himself in his home.
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Around 2 a.m. Wednesday, police received a call reporting a man shooting at another man on Bangs Street. Police were also told the man was using a gun to break out windows of cars parked in a driveway.
When officers arrived, Jones was barricaded inside his house. After officers determined one other person was inside the home, officers made announcements for them to come outside. A woman walked out of the home uninjured around 4 a.m., police said.
After an hours-long standoff, the police negotiation team made contact with Jones after his girlfriend was able to link them in a three-way call. Within 40 minutes, Jones peacefully exited the house wearing shorts, a white tank top and smoking a cigarette.
Police obtained a search warrant and a firearm was recovered in Jones’ home, Lewbel said.
Jones is due in court again on July 2 and is currently in custody at the Kane County jail on $200,000 bail. If released, Jones is ordered to not enter his home.
mejones@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-27--‘A lot of lightning’ possible as severe thunderstorms move through area with high winds and hail

Intense downpours with a “ lot of lightning '' are expected to move throughout the area in the next hour @ @ @ @ @ , as the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of Cook @ @ @ @ @ p.m and parts of Kane , Kendall and DeKalb counties until 7:45 p.m. A flash @ @ @ @ @ issued for Cook , DuPage and Kane counties until 10:15 p.m .

Intense downpours with a “lot of lightning'' are expected to move throughout the area in the next hour or so, forecasters say, as the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of Cook and DuPage counties until 7:30 p.m and parts of Kane, Kendall and DeKalb counties until 7:45 p.m.
A flash flood warning has also been issued for Cook, DuPage and Kane counties until 10:15 p.m.
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The outbound Kennedy Expressway at the Hubbard Tunnel is flooded after a downpour, June 26, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Chicago IL, Cicero IL, Arlington Heights IL until 7:30 PM CDT pic.twitter.com/3ZjjQ4ldPd — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) June 26, 2020
Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Aurora IL, Oswego IL, Batavia IL until 7:45 PM CDT pic.twitter.com/AS9o9XZ46V — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) June 27, 2020
Flash Flood Warning including Chicago IL, Elgin IL, Cicero IL until 10:15 PM CDT pic.twitter.com/yfltrNHJff — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) June 27, 2020
These storms, coming in from the north, will possibly be in two bursts, and w ill include downpours, pea-sized or possibly quarter-sized hail, and a “lot of lighting,‘' with it and should be in the Chicago area shortly before 7 p.m., said Brian Leatherwood, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service.
The first round of Friday storms moved out of the Chicago area by around 10 a.m., but storms Friday afternoon and evening throughout northern Illinois, northwest Indiana and southern Wisconsin could be severe, according to the National Weather Service.
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The severe thunderstorm watch was in effect until 9 p.m. for all of northern Illinois from Kankakee north, southern Wisconsin and Lake and Porter counties in Indiana.
Starting Friday afternoon, “Severe thunderstorms are a threat ... potentially in several waves” into the evening, according to the weather service.
“Additional thunderstorms will occur this afternoon and evening, with the primary severe weather and flash flood threat time being 4 to 10 p.m., according to the weather service. “Damaging wind gusts will be the main threat, but a threat for a few brief tornadoes exists as well. A threat for flash flooding will exist as well, mainly north of I-80.”
High temperatures Friday were expected to be about 89 degrees away from Lake Michigan, with a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms. The weekend will see lower chances of storms, with temperatures in the low 80s away from the lake Saturday and Sunday.
Check the Tribune’s weather page for more forecast details.