Violent 24 hours leaves 9 dead across Chicago

Nine people were killed in violence across Chicago over a 24-hour period from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning.

The large number of slayings would be unusual on a warm summer weekend and is startling for a late-winter weekday.

Most of the victims were killed in shootings. They include a 15-year-old girl and a man, both killed while sitting in a car in Roseland, and a 53-year-old man shot to death in a fight on a CTA bus on the West Side.

It was still unclear Wednesday evening how an 11-year-old was killed on the North Side, according to police. The boy’s pregnant mother was critically wounded in the attack by a man reportedly released from prison a day earlier.

Kim Smith, a director at the University of Chicago Crime Lab, was surprised to see clusters of deadly violence in the far South and North sides of the city.

The geographic reach of the violence is an “unfortunate reminder of the scale of resources and the continued focus that we need to muster as a city in order to have safe and healthy communities,” Smith said.

Shootings and slayings have been trending downward over the last year, 12% and 19% respectively, according to statistics from the Chicago Police Department.

But this week’s violence bucked that trend — coinciding with unseasonably warm temperatures.

Ravenswood domestic killing

Police arrested a suspect who reportedly was paroled from prison the day before in the killing of the 11-year-old boy and the wounding of his mom.

Police were called to an apartment in the 5900 block of North Ravenswood Avenue just before 8 a.m. Wednesday and found Jayden Perkins and the woman, 33, authorities said. The boy had suffered an injury to the chest, and the mother had been repeatedly stabbed. The boy died later at a hospital.

Earlier, police identified a man recently released from prison as a suspect. The 37-year-old is a convicted felon with a long criminal history that dates back to at least 2004 in Cook County. He had previously been convicted of domestic battery and violating orders of protection in several cases.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Roseland double slaying

A teenage girl and a man were fatally shot shortly after midnight Wednesday in a parked car on the Far South Side.

Terri Player, 15, and Terry Player, 24, were in the car about 12:30 a.m. in the 200 block of West 109th Place in Roseland when someone shot them to death, authorities said.

James Domina, a painter who lives on the block where the shooting happened, said the gunshots sounded like they came from “some kind of automatic weapon.”

“I almost wanna throw up,” Domina said when he learned two neighbors had been slain.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

CTA bus slaying in Humboldt Park

Around 11:20 p.m. Tuesday, a fight on a CTA bus turned deadly on the West Side.

Uruba Lumpkins, 53, was allegedly waving a knife on the bus and approached another person, who took out a gun and shot him at 11:19 p.m. The shooter fled, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s f said.

The 53-year-old was dead at the scene in the 4400 block of West Division Street, police said. No one was in custody. Authorities haven’t shared the victim’s name.

West Pullman killings

Minutes earlier, a 25-year-old man was fatally shot in West Pullman on the Far South Side. The man told officers he was shot by someone about 12:19 a.m. in the 600 block of West 117th Street, police said.

First responders took him in critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

He was identified as Kareem Thomas by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Hours earlier, Trey Marshall, 30, was killed in the 11600 block of Yale Avenue. An assailant fired multiple shots at the 30-year-old on a sidewalk about 10 p.m.

The victim ran into a nearby yard, where he collapsed, police said. He died later at a hospital. The shooter got into a black car and sped away, police said.

Nearby resident Robert Vaughn, 76, was watching TV when he said he heard about 20 gunshots. No one was in custody.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Grand Crossing double killing

At 3:20 p.m. Tuesday, two men were killed as they drove through the Grand Crossing neighborhood. Someone fired shots from inside a silver car, striking both men in the 6800 block of South State Street, police said.

One of them, 30-year-old Antonyo Tupac Rogers, was shot in the head and body. The other man, 22, was shot in the head and neck. Authorities haven’t released his name. Police said no one was in custody.

Rogers Park killing

Tuesday’s first slaying occurred in Rogers Park on the North Side. Cameron Rollins, 21, was shot in the head about 2 p.m. in the 1400 block of West Morse Avenue, authorities said. He was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he was pronounced dead.

“It was pretty gruesome,” said an employee at the nearby Malliway Bros. Spells, Charms and Potions. “I can’t believe it happened in broad daylight like that.”

Bernabe Solorzano, an employee at Morse Gyros, said he called 911 as soon as he heard the shots. “When I went outside, I just saw the guy lying there with blood all around him. He looked so young,” Solorzano said.

Police said no one was in custody.