Mother of 3 becomes second fatality in deadly park shooting
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 Merrill Park in the 2100 block of East 96th Place on Tuesday, July 24, 2012. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune / July 25, 2012) |
A mother of three young children became the second person to die from a gang-related shooting at a Southeast Side park that also left a 17-year-old boy dead, authorities said this morning.
The woman, Janeen Hancock, 34, was pronounced dead at ohn H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County at 7:35 p.m. Tuesday, nearly an entire day after two males sprayed gunfire across Merrill Park near 96th Place and Merrill Avenue in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood on the Southeast Side.
Hancock, Alixi Johnson, 17, and two others were enjoying the warm, humid night in the small neighborhood park at about 10:18 p.m. when at least two gunmen exited a gangway and fired dozens of rounds, striking all four people, Chicago police said.
Police recovered more than 50 spent bullet casings that were a mix of handgun and rifle rounds, authorities said.
Hancock, who was with her aunt in the park, was shot in the abdomen and thigh. She was still talking and didn't appear to be seriously hurt at first, her brother, John Hancock, told the Tribune on Tuesday.
By the time she reached the hospital, however, her condition had nose-dived and she was placed on life support, her brother said. At the time, relatives decided not to share Hancock's condition with her three children, all under the age of 10, said Hancock, 25.
Johnson, who was struck in the chest, was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Law enforcement sources said that at least two factions of the Gangster Disciples street gang have been feuding in the area recently.
John Hancock cursed the people who shot into the crowd, which he said was made up mostly of women.
"The gangs said if we're up here, anyone could die," Hancock said. "That's how they feel."
An autopsy for Hancock is scheduled for this morning, a medical examiner's spokeswoman said.
The woman, Janeen Hancock, 34, was pronounced dead at ohn H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County at 7:35 p.m. Tuesday, nearly an entire day after two males sprayed gunfire across Merrill Park near 96th Place and Merrill Avenue in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood on the Southeast Side.
Hancock, Alixi Johnson, 17, and two others were enjoying the warm, humid night in the small neighborhood park at about 10:18 p.m. when at least two gunmen exited a gangway and fired dozens of rounds, striking all four people, Chicago police said.
Police recovered more than 50 spent bullet casings that were a mix of handgun and rifle rounds, authorities said.
Hancock, who was with her aunt in the park, was shot in the abdomen and thigh. She was still talking and didn't appear to be seriously hurt at first, her brother, John Hancock, told the Tribune on Tuesday.
By the time she reached the hospital, however, her condition had nose-dived and she was placed on life support, her brother said. At the time, relatives decided not to share Hancock's condition with her three children, all under the age of 10, said Hancock, 25.
Johnson, who was struck in the chest, was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Law enforcement sources said that at least two factions of the Gangster Disciples street gang have been feuding in the area recently.
John Hancock cursed the people who shot into the crowd, which he said was made up mostly of women.
"The gangs said if we're up here, anyone could die," Hancock said. "That's how they feel."
An autopsy for Hancock is scheduled for this morning, a medical examiner's spokeswoman said.
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