Lakeidra Chavis | The Trace

Reporter

Lakeidra Chavis is a reporter for The Trace in Chicago, where most of her work focuses on the city’s gun violence prevention efforts.

Isaiah “Zay” Manning at Contextos, the nonprofit where he works.

The Watchdogs

Illinois created a program to compensate crime victims. Nearly 50 years later, it’s failing.

The state program that’s supposed to help ease the blow of being a crime victim largely isn’t doing that, an investigation by The Trace has found. Few apply. Even fewer get financial relief. Those who do face long waits.

By Lakeidra Chavis | The Trace and Daniel Nass | The Trace

The number of suicides among Black Cook County residents last year rose even as the figure among white residents fell to a near-decade low in 2020, an analysis based on Cook County medical examiner’s office data shows.

The Watchdogs

More suicides by Black Cook County residents in 2020 than in any year in over a decade

The alarming rise came as city and county officials came up short on pledges to improve suicide-prevention efforts they made last summer in response to a report by The Trace and the Sun-Times.

By Lakeidra Chavis | The Trace

Angie Graves, at her home in North Lawndale, considered herself the adopted mom of Malik Webber, who killed himself in March. She holds the program for his funeral.

Politics

The number of suicides among Black people in Cook County is sharply up this year

Midway through the year, the figure already has matched all of 2019, and 2020 is on pace to see more suicides among Black residents than in any year in a decade.

By Lakeidra Chavis | The Trace