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Recent Blog Posts
Man Charged with Murder of Missing Woman
The 42 year old live-in-boyfriend of a missing Calumet City woman has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide. Although the body of Gena Chiodo has not been located, police say there is enough evidence to support the charges against Donal Clark, a man who has a reported history of domestic violence.
According to the Chicago Tribune, friends of Chiodo, many of who reported seeing the victim with bruises on her arms and throat during her 18 month relationship with Clark, became concerned when shedidn’tshow up for work or answer calls. The police were contacted and sent to the couple’s home. They found Clark at home, and he claimed hedidn’tknow where she was.
Police also found a bloody scene inside the home, leading to the first-degree murder charge. There was blood was splattered on the walls, a desk and a treadmill in a weight room on the first floor. The bathroom had a strong smell of bleach and police found blood around the toilet bowl. There was no shower curtain in the bathroom, but police did find one outside in the garbage, covered in blood. One bedroom had a blood soaked pillow; another bedroom had a shattered mirror. Police also found a pool of blood on a carpet inside the backdoor landing.
Father Faces Charges after Accidently Shooting Son
CBS Chicago reports that Charles Johnson faces charges of unlawful use of a weapon after his 17 year old son was accidentally shot on October 20th.
Johnson was apparently arguing with his son and they were struggling for control of the weapon when the gun discharged and the son was shot in the head. The dispute came about after Johnson found the gun in his son’s room. Johnson confronted his son about having the weapon and was trying to take it from him and that is when the argument ensued. The 17 year old is reported to be in critical condition at Saint Francis Hospital which is located in Evanston.
It is currently undetermined if Johnson will face additional charges because he is a convicted felon and is therefore legally disallowed from being in possession of a handgun. The penalty for a felon possessing a handgun can be up to ten years’ imprisonment.
Man Sues for 19 Years Spent in Prison for Crime He Didn’t Do
Juan Rivera Jr. went through three trials and endured nineteen years in prison for a crime hedidn’tcommit. Now the Illinois man has filed a federal lawsuit against the Lake County state’s attorney’s office and the sheriff’s department for conspiring to deny him his Constitutional rights. Also specifically named in the lawsuit are former Sheriff Gary Del Re; current Sheriff Mark Curran; State’s Attorney Michael Waller; assistant state’s attorneys Jeffrey Pavletic, Michael Mermel and Matthew Chancey; Lake County Major Crimes Task Force officers Chuck Fagan, Lucian Tessman, and Donald Meade; the cities of Waukegan and Lake Forest; and the village of BuffaloGrove.
In 1992, Rivera was 19 years old and already in custody on a burglary charge when he became a suspect for the rape and murder of an 11 year old girl. In the lawsuit, he says he was subjected to several days of intensive interrogation, which lead to a mental breakdown on the third day. Medical officials at the jail diagnosed him as being in “acute psychosis” and he was put in constraints and placed in a padded cell. On the fourth day of interrogation, Rivera signed a confession written in English, a language he didn’t have the ability to read or write.
Young Man Shot to Death by Teens
An attempted robbery led to the death of a high school student in the Southeast Side’s Jeffery Manor neighborhood on October 20. Terrance Wright, a senior at Banner Academy South High School, was shot and killed by a group of robbers as he was leaving school, according to Chicago Police.
The 18-year-old Wright was fighting the robbers when one of them shot him in the chest. The young man was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where it was confirmed that he died of a gunshot wound to the chest. His 19th birthday was only a week away. Wright had been bullied at his former school because he was gay. He transferred to Banner last year where he quickly made new friends, said Kathy Jackson, the victim’s aunt. “He had made a big turnaround from the old school to this one,” Jackson said. “And now this happened.”
Juvenile Attacks Teacher in Classroom
A 15-year-old high school student is charged with aggravated battery of a school official, reports the Chicago Tribune. The Larkin High School student walked into a classroom on October 24th during a break and attacked a 51-year-old male teacher. He knocked the teacher on to the ground and punched him in the face many times, the officials say.
There were other students in the classroom who managed to stop the attacker and then called for help. The violent student was taken away by the school’s resource officer and dean’s office employees, and eventually he was taken to the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center. The teacher is recovering from his minor injuries in a hospital.
In addition to the charges, the aggressive student might face suspension or expulsion from the school.”This is a senseless act of violence toward another person,” said John Heiderscheidt, District U-46 safety coordinator, who was unable to provide a motive for the attack. “There really is no explanation.” This is the first time the student has committed a crime.
Man Arrested after Accidentally Discharging Gun at Son
In the evening of Saturday, October 20th, a father and son argued about a handgun. The gun itself belonged to the father, a convicted felon, named Charles Johnson. According to police reports, Johnson had originally hidden the gun in his garage but it had gone missing nearly 6 months ago. The problem arose when his 17-year-old son left the gun on his desk in his room. The confrontation took a turn for the worse as the two started to wrestle for control of the weapon.
This occurred at their home near the 1300 block of West Estes Avenue in the Rodgers Park neighborhood of Chicago. “It appears the son had (the gun) and he was trying to take it away from him,” Police News Affairs officer Robert Perez reported.“It discharged in the process.” The teenager was shot in the head by his father’s gun. The wound was located around his right check. He is currently in critical condition as late as Monday morning after the event. He is being treated at Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston.
Man Warming His Pot Plants Alerts Police of his Crimes
On October 6th, a pot farmer living in Aurora was taken into custody. He was trying to keep his pot plants warm after midnight on that Saturday night by creating two huge bonfires. His efforts to save his pot from the cold only helped to have them seized. These blazes alerted the local police to possible illegal activities and ended up getting Daniel Selmon, 23, arrested for his illegal plants.
A police officer for the city of Aurora was on his nightly patrol when he saw the two bonfires near the 800 block of Robert Street around 2:45 on Saturday morning. Upon investigating these illegal fires, the officer came to find what looked like three large marijuana plants growing in the corner of the yard. When the police officer confiscated the plants, they found it to weigh nearly seven pounds total. The police have not declared what the street value is for such a large amount of pot.
Woman Accused of Stealing from Residents in Her Care
A former manager of an assisted living home for the developmentally disabled has been accused of stealing more than $9000 from four residents of the home by using their bank cards without their permission. Linda Cottrell, 37, was arraigned on charge of financial exploitation of a disabled person. Her bail was set at $50,000 by the court.
According to a report in the Daily Herald, prosecutors told that court that Cottrell had access to the safe where the residents’ bank cards were kept. The alleged thefts began occurring in December 2008 and continued up until December 2011. Cottrell is accused of making multiple unauthorized withdrawals, ranging in amounts between $110 up to $7,698, with a total amount of $8,848 taken.
Cottrell was charged when another employee of the home noticed a discrepancy in some of the accounts. A statement released by State Attorney Robert Berlin said his office would prosecute Cottrell to the “fullest extent of the law.”
Tragic End to Relationship
A twenty-two year on-again, off-again relationship has tragically ended after a final domestic argument that has left a 40 year old Antioch woman dead. Michael Axtell, 41, has been charged with the murder of Tammy L. Stone, the mother of his 19 year old daughter.
According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, Stone called the couple’s daughter and told her that she and Axtell were fighting. When the daughter arrived at her parents’ home, bringing two friends with her, she found her mother with a black eye. The daughter got into a physical altercation with her father about the condition her mother was in.
She then went into the garage of the home, and reported to police she heard a “thud” coming from the house. She and her friends went back into the house, as her father was leaving, and found Stone unresponsive in a bedroom. The daughter called 911, but paramedics were unable to revive her. Stone was transferred to the hospital were she later died of her injuries. Preliminary findings by the coroner’s office show that Stone died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Chuck E. Cheese Employee Accused of Stabbing Customer
An argument about a salad plate escalated into an alleged stabbing and an arrest. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that last month, 19 year old Chuck E. Cheese employee Shardonnae Pruitt was charged with simple assault and battery after stabbing a patron with a box cutter.
The incident occurred at the restaurant/arcade chain, Chuck E. Cheese’s Kedzie Ave.location. According to the report, a 40 year old male customer became very irate when Pruitt took his salad plate away from him. The man threw his eating utensils on the floor and demanded to see the manager. He told the manager he wanted to file a formal complaint. When the manager stepped away, eyewitnesses told police that Pruitt threatened the man and then pulled a box cutter and used it to stab the 25 year old woman that was with the man. The woman was treated at and released from a local hospital.
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