Our mission is to expose and remedy corruption in the Probate Court of Cook County, Illinois. We assist, educate and enlighten families of the dead, the dying, the disabled and the aged to better understand their rights in order to protect themselves from the excesses of the Probate Court of Cook County. ProbateSharks.com is dedicated to networking the human element of people to people. We join together in reforming the corrupt Cook County Probate Court system.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Deadliest start to year in Chicago in nearly two decades

Editor's note: This Shark observed that the numbers of deaths are skewed less than the true reality by the Chicago political structure. When a victim is wounded, the wounds may not be treated in a hospital. Also, complications from serious gunshot wounds, even when properly treated, may arise weeks, months or years later and will be considered, "natural causes" and not homicides. Keep in mind that the same crooks running the Probate Court of Cook County may be keeping track of shootings. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

Alexandra Chachkevitch , Megan Crepeau and Peter NickeasContact ReportersChicago Tribune

The number of homicides so far this year in Chicago climbed past 100 over the weekend, the deadliest start to a year in the city in nearly two decades, according to statistics kept by the Police Department and the Tribune.

At least two people were killed and 24 were wounded between Friday afternoon and Sunday evening. One of those killed was Shari Graham, a 30-year-old mother of three small children who was shot in the head Friday night as she sat in a cab about two blocks south of U.S. Cellular Field.

Graham was at least the 101st homicide in the city this year. She had returned to Chicago just before Christmas. Her family said she moved back for a fresh start and hoped to land a job as a nurse.

The next afternoon, Eric D. Henry Jr. was sitting in a car with a woman in the Gresham neighborhood when someone walked up and fired, police said. Henry was shot in the head and died at the scene just after 4 p.m. The woman was shot in the jaw and leg and was listed in serious condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Throughout much of the month, homicides had been running nearly double the same time last year. By Sunday evening, the total stood at 102 compared with 52 on Feb. 28 last year, according to a database kept by the Tribune. Those numbers cover all violent deaths, including a man shot by police and two people killed by a shop owner during a robbery, a shooting considered justified by investigators.

Murder statistics kept by the Police Department include only those violent deaths considered criminal. By the department's measure, there have been 95 murders so far this year. There hasn't been a deadlier start to the year since 1997, when the department posted 101 murders in the first two months.

Since then, there have been three years that the city saw more than 70 murders over January and February: 1999 (95), 2000 (85) and 2002 (77). In the last decade, there haven't been more than 66 murders during the first two months.

Murders began rising sharply in Chicago in the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in 1992 with 943 murders before gradually declining. In 1997, the number was 796. Last year, it was 468, by the department's measurement.

There has been an even bigger spike in the number of people shot in the city this year. As of Monday, at least 467 people had been shot compared with 217 the same period last year — more than double, according to statistics kept by the Tribune.

By the end of last year, more than 2,900 people had been shot. That was 13 percent more than the previous year. The number of homicides was up by nearly 13 percent from 2014.

Despite being the nation's third most populous city, Chicago far outpaces New York City, Los Angeles and every other large city in America in the sheer number of homicide and shooting victims. It fares better than some smaller cities on a per capita comparison.