Streets On Fire: 10 Victims Of Chicago’s Violent Murder Spike [PHOTOS]

Although some may have scoffed at Lupe Fiasco declaring in a radio interview last week that rising rap star Chief Keef “scared him” as a result of the Chicago teen’s violent depiction of their shared hometown, a quick look at the staggering rise in the murder rate of Black and Hispanic teens due to gun violence strikes an eerie coincidence. Even with increased efforts by police and other officials, it appears that the alarming numbers show no sign of slowing down anytime soon. The murder of aspiring rapper Lil JoJo is just the latest example of the mayhem going down in Chi-Town.

While Democrats across the country turn their attention to the Democratic National Convention, the city where President Obama found political fame is being ravaged by violence that may give Chicago the unflattering title of “Murder Capital Of America” for the fourth time in 14 years. Hip-Hop Wired takes a look at 10 victims out of the hundreds that perished by way of murder from the top of the year until now.

Warning: some of the details accompanying the following photos may be emotionally triggering for some.

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Photo: Stogner Family

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Nicholas Camacho, 19 – Harold Washington College student Nicholas Camacho became Chicago’s first identified murder victim of the year after a late-night ride on January 2 with friends turned deadly. As Camacho and friends stopped in an alley to relieve themselves, an armed man accompanied by a group of friends opened fire on the car and shot Camacho in the head. Camacho’s family was devastated and maintained that the teenager was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

WGN

Mark Watts, 15 – Mark Watts, a father of an infant daughter, was killed on a front porch in the gang-ravaged Englewood area while visiting family and friends in January. Having since moved from the area to the suburbs, Watts’ visit to his former neighborhood should have been joyous. His legal guardian said that despite his size, he was a good-natured boy who never got into any legal trouble.

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Deshun Winfert, 15 – Deshun Winfert had dreams of becoming an actor or a basketball star like his idol, Derrick Rose, and even attended the NBA All-Star’s alma mater. While visiting his father in Chicago’s Southside in early February, a SUV pulled alongside them and shot the pair in the chest. While Winfert’s father managed to escape and survive, his son was pronounced dead after reaching a nearby medical center. According to reports, father and son had no ties to gangs in the area.

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Damion Rolle, 14 – Englewood teen Damion Rolle’s death is especially tragic as it happened by the actions of his older brother. According to the reports, Damion and his 15-year-old brother were autistic. The family feared that their violent outbursts would prove deadly one day. Those fears were confirmed in February after Damion’s older brother shot him in the chest, then tossed the weapon out of the window after police responded to the shooting.

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Chris Wormely, 17 – Tensions between Chris Wormely and another student at Southside Chicago’s Infinity, an alternative high school, escalated and ended tragically with the March stabbing of Wormely. Occurring on Infinity’s grounds, officials claim the attack was so swift that they couldn’t have prevented it – even with metal detectors in place. According to Wormely’s family, he was not a troubled teen but did have some mild learning disabilities.

Anthony Scott, 19 – In an especially violent weekend in March in where 10 people were killed and 49 more were wounded, Anthony Scott was shot at point-blank range after being called over to a vehicle. According to all reports, Scott – who was nicknamed “Harlem” because of his adoration of the New York borough – was not gang-affiliated.

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Sameer Barakat, 19 – During the Islamic celebratory period of Ramadan in August, gifted high school wrestler Sameer Barakat was walking with his father and another relative in the Albany Park area, and were confronted by turf guarding gang members. Sameer was shot in the head as his father tried to cover his son from the assault.

Donta (Tiffany) Gooden, 19 – A transgendered woman was found dead from stab wounds in an abandoned building in Chicago’s West Side neighborhood back in August. Gooden would be the second transgendered woman murdered in the area after Paige Clay, 23, was found dead in April.

Jalen Stogner, 17 – The case of Jalen Stogner took place on the last day of August,  shortly after the teen and his brothers accompanied their mother to a laundromat. Stogner argued outside with 17-year-old Alan Padilla who then produced a handgun and shot him once. Stogner’s mother witnessed her son suffering from the wound;  Stogner was pronounced dead an hour later.

Joseph (Lil Jo Jo) Coleman, 18 – In one of the more high-profile cases in the spate of murders in Chicago, rising baby-faced rapper Joseph “Lil Jo Jo” Coleman was found shot dead in the Englewood section. Coleman, who proudly touted his gang banger status in his music and videos, was in a YouTube video that showed him taunting rival rapper Lil Reese. In the clip, a person can be heard saying “I’ma kill you!” before the video cuts off. Blogs are writing that Coleman was 16 years of age, conflicting with police reports saying the rapper was 18.