Deanese Williams-Harris, Megan Crepeau and Elvia MalagonContact ReportersChicago Tribune
Homicides are now outpacing last year in Chicago after the city experienced its deadliest day so far this year, according to data kept by the Tribune.
Seven people were shot to death on Wednesday, five of them killed over two hours, including a woman who was eight months pregnant and had already picked out a name for her baby.
That's the most homicides since Christmas Day last year, when eight people were killed in the city.
Homicides had been lagging behind last year, which had been the deadliest in two decades. But by Wednesday evening, the city had recorded its 99th homicide two days earlier than it did last year, according to Tribune data.
Like last year, the Harrison police district on the West Side has seen the most homicides: 16 this year compared to 12 this time last year, according to Tribune data.
The Austin district, also on the West Side, is close behind with 11 homicides. Last year, it wasn't even among the top five at this time, Tribune data shows.
The next three districts are Ogden on the Near West Side, 10, Englewood on the South Side, 9, and Calumet on the South Side, 6. The Near North district had no homicides this time last year but has recorded two this year, according to Tribune data.
While homicides had been down most of this year, the number of people shot has been higher almost from the beginning. As of Wednesday evening, at least 495 people had been shot in Chicago, nearly 60 more than this time last year, according to Tribune data.
Statistics from the Chicago Police Department are lower because it does not include shootings on city expressways, police-involved shootings and incidents police consider non-criminal, like justified shootings.
But even the department's numbers show this year is starting off as violently as last year. The department reported 379 shooting incidents this year, compared to 365 this time last year. It counted 91 homicides as of Wednesday night, compared to 93 the year before.
On Thursday night, President Donald Trump tweeted about Chicago violence, a frequent subject for him. Citing the seven fatal shootings Wednesday, he wrote: “What is going on there - totally out of control. Chicago needs help!”
Last week, he said Chicago was "worse than almost any of the places in the Middle East." Trump offered at one point to "send in the Feds," though he was not clear about what he meant.
Among those killed in Chicago Wednesday was Wilteeah Jones, 20, who was expecting a baby girl the end of March. She had already picked out a name -- Mileah -- her family said.
She was with her boyfriend in the 7600 block of South Champlain Avenue around 8:15 p.m. when someone opened fire. She was hit in the abdomen and side, and her 20-year-old boyfriend was shot in the neck as he sat in their car, police said.
Both were taken to Stroger Hospital and pronounced dead, police said. The family said the baby did not survive.
On the Far South Side about 8:50 p.m., 24-year-old Devell Coleman was killed in the Brainerd neighborhood. He was on the sidewalk in the 9100 block of South Emerald Avenue when someone in a dark-colored sedan opened fire and hit him in the head and back.
He went to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, and he was pronounced dead. The medical examiner said Coleman lived on the block where he was shot.
About 8:35 p.m., a 31-year-old man was shot in the head and back in the 11400 block of South Ada Street in the West Pullman neighborhood, police said. The man was pronounced dead on the scene. Police released no details about the shooting but said a person of interest was being questioned.
About 7 p.m., a 45-year-old man was fatally shot in the 900 block of East 133rd Street in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood, police said. The man was shot in the head and pronounced dead on the scene, police said.
The night before, Michael J. Lawrence-Harrington, 27, was shot to death in the 800 block of East 132nd Street, at the north end of Carver Park, authorities said.
Shortly before 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, a relative found Jose Correa, 60, unresponsive on the floor of a garage in the 2700 block of South Central Park Avenue in Little Village, police said. He had been shot in the back, neck and mouth, and was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Around 12:50 a.m., a 55-year-old man was killed during an altercation with another person in the Bronzeville neighborhood, police said.
Willie Shaw was in the 4500 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue when the other person pulled out a gun and shot him in the leg, according to police and the medical examiner's office. Shaw, of the 4600 block of South Ellis Avenue, was taken to Stroger Hospital and pronounced dead, the office said.
In other shootings:
• On the South Side about 10 p.m., a 39-year-old man got himself to Advocate Trinity Hospital with gunshot wounds to the right thigh and left foot after a shooting in the 9000 block of South Greenwood Avenue. His condition was stabilized.
• About 9:20 p.m. on the West Side, a 29-year-old man was shot in the leg in the 5200 block of West Ferdinand Street in the South Austin neighborhood, police said. He got to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park where his condition was stabilized.
• Just before 9:10 p.m. on the Far South Side, a 25-year-old man was shot in Calumet Heights. He was riding in a vehicle in the 9100 block of South Oglesby Avenue when someone shot him in the back. He got to Advocate Trinity Hospital and was listed in serious condition.
• About 6:50 p.m., a 16-year-old boy was shot in the 2200 block of South Central Park Avenue in the Little Village neighborhood. The boy suffered a graze wound to the head and was treated at the scene, police said.
• About 1:20 p.m. on the West Side, a 21-year-old man was shot in the 5800 block of West North Avenue in the Austin neighborhood. The man was walking on the street when he was shot in the lower leg by someone in a brown Impala. He was taken in good condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.
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