Latest news with #LakeCountyCoroner'sOffice
Chicago Tribune
15 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Man, teen charged in separate Gary, Hammond murders
Charges were unsealed this week for a man and a teen in separate Gary and Hammond murders. Lamont Wilkerson, 22, of Gary, is charged with murder, unlawful carrying of a handgun and one misdemeanor in the July 13 death of Edward Kindred, 23, of Gary. He is in custody. His next court date is Aug. 6. Indiana State Police Detective Roger Escutia of the Lake County Prosecutors' Homicide Task Force responded July 13 to Waverly Drive and Taft Street in Gary. Kindred was pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital. He died from a gunshot wound to his legs, according to the Lake County Coroner's Office. Police found 15 bullet shells at the scene. Video showed Kindred leaving Taft Foods when a silver car pulled up, a man in all white got out, followed Kindred briefly, then opened fire before fleeing. A second man also got out, but police weren't sure if he fired a gun. Moments later, as Kindred was 'limping away' and holding a weapon, he appeared to draw as he was attacked. Police appeared to identify the suspect as Wilkerson after he was seen on video pumping gas a day earlier – matching his picture to a police database. The car appears to be the same one later seen fleeing the murder. He was wearing the same clothes. The car was registered to Wilkerson's relative. Investigators found it torched July 17 on the 1100 block of Wright Street. Kindred loved basketball and had a 'heart to help people,' his obituary stated. In the second murder, a Hammond teen was arrested after a married couple smoking marijuana were found shot up in a car. The assailant wore a black mask, records show. Xavier Cruz, now 18, of Hammond, was charged with murder and attempted murder in November with the Sept. 14, 2024, death of Steven Gonzalez, 20, of Hammond. Gonzalez's death was ruled a homicide. Hammond Police Detective James Onohan responded around 5:46 p.m. that evening to the 400 block of Huehn Street. Police recovered a gun magazine in the grass eight feet away. They also found five 9-mm shells. Surveillance footage showed three males walking in a gangway toward the car. One, Cruz's relative, now 20, has not been charged to date in public filings. A third teen was a light-skinned Hispanic, with glasses, a Chicago Bulls baseball hat and wavy hair. 'He just smoked them,' Cruz's relative said after the shooting. Afterwards, Cruz and his relative went to a home on the 4000 block of Towle Avenue. The man who lived there at first declined to let police in the home, but then gave permission. An older woman and three male teens were allowed to leave before a SWAT team raided it. After a search warrant, police found blood on a closet door and the floor. They seized cellphones, drugs, ammunition, and a gun hidden in the basement ceiling, which matched ballistics found at the scene. A warrant for Cruz's relative's phone eventually led to the third teen. Police learned Cruz's relative alleged the female victim recently stole a gun from him, and Xavier Cruz was the alleged shooter. Anyone with information can reach Escutia at 219-755-385 or Onohan at 219-853-6490.
Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Chicago Tribune
Gary man killed when he was hit on I-65 next to his disabled car
A Gary man was killed on Interstate 65 late Saturday night when he was struck by another vehicle while trying to put fuel in his car. Anthony Drake, 58, was pronounced dead due to multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Lake County Coroner's Office. Around 11:57 p.m., Indiana State Police troopers responded to a multiple-vehicle crash in the southbound lanes of I-65 about a mile north of the U.S. 30 exit, according to a news release. The location is currently undergoing construction work, which requires a multi-lane shift. A preliminary investigation determined that Drake, who was driving a black 2005 Cadillac, tried to pull over to the right and was stopped partially in the right lane because there was no emergency shoulder, police said. Drake was standing outside his Cadillac and trying to put fuel in it when he was struck by a passing vehicle, a Ford Flex. The Ford also struck the concrete barrier dividing the northbound and southbound lanes due to the impact, and a vehicle in the northbound lanes also struck the concrete wall, the release stated. The other drivers involved in the crash were treated at local hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries.
Chicago Tribune
5 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Law & Order column: Coroner corrects ‘misinformation' about death
The Lake County Coroner's Office recently countered what it called misinformation spread by federal immigration authorities in the case of Megan Bos, the Antioch woman whose corpse was found in a man's backyard. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office announced on July 20 that the man charged with concealing Bos' body had been arrested for immigration violations, and that Bos' head had been removed from her body. Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez was taken into custody in Chicago while awaiting trial on charges related to Bos' death. 'In response to recent inaccurate media reports, the Lake County Coroner's Office clarifies that Megan Bos was not decapitated,' the coroner's office said in a news release issued the day after ICE reported the arrest of Mendoza-Gonzalez. 'This misinformation has caused unnecessary distress to the family and misrepresents the facts of this investigation.' Mendoza-Gonzalez, a 52-year-old Waukegan resident, told authorities that Bos, 37, whom he knew, had come to his house in February, snorted some type of drugs and then died, authorities said. He said he put her body in a container in his backyard and broke her phone because he thought he would get into trouble, police said. He is alleged to have used bleach on Bos' body. Family members had spent weeks searching for her before her body was found in April. Mendoza-Garcia was charged with concealing a homicide, abuse of a corpse and obstruction of justice, but was not held in custody because the charges – all Class 4 felonies – are not detainable under the cashless bail program now in effect in Illinois. State's Attorney Eric Rinehart issued a statement saying Bos had not been decapitated, and that her cause of death had been ruled 'undetermined.' 'As we have told the family, we believe that a criminal trial and sentencing is more appropriate than deportation procedures,' the statement said. 'As people know, deportation to another country does not lead to prison in that country. If he were to agree to deportation, he could be free in days. We are hopeful that he will be brought to court so that he can be held fully accountable for his actions.' The arrest has sparked another round of criticisms of the cashless bail system instituted as part of the state's Safe-T Act. Suspects fled Gurnee police officers arrested two Racine men who fled a Wisconsin traffic stop after their car was spotted near Interstate 94. The pair, along with a third person, reportedly drove off from a Wisconsin police officer before crossing into Illinois. However, before entering the state, a Wisconsin police officer had deployed 'stop sticks' which flattened two of the vehicle's tires. Gurnee police responding to reports of a reckless driver found the vehicle near an auto parts store in the Grand Avenue /I-94 area. As officers approached the stopped vehicle, the occupants ran off. The three were detained after a coordinated response including police dogs and foot pursuit. One of the trio had an active warrant out of Racine, and another was charged with resisting arrest. The third person was released without charges, police said. Drug sale arrest Officers with the Special Investigations Group of the Lake County Sheriff's Office have arrested a Waukegan man on drug charges. Agustin Arias, Jr., 41, of the 900 block of Woodlawn Avenue, was arrested on July 17, police said, for selling cocaine. The sheriff's office said it received a tip that Arias, who lives near the Glen Flora Elementary School, was selling drugs. During the investigation, Arias made several drug sales to undercover officers, authorities said. On July 17, he was taken into custody during a traffic stop, police said. He has been charged with delivery of a controlled substance near a school. Child porn charge A Lake Zurich man was charged with child pornography counts after police searched his residence, according to the sheriff's office. Randall R. Grueb, 59, of the 800 block of Interlaken Drive, was taken into custody Thursday. Police said they learned that an electronic device in the home had been used to download and share thousands of child pornography images in recent months. Authorities said they discovered more than 100 images in Grieb's possession after searching.
Chicago Tribune
18-07-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Victim of fatal I-94 crash near Northbrook identified as Chicago man
The Lake County Coroner's Office announced Friday afternoon the identity of the man killed in a single car crash on the I-94 expressway earlier this week in Northbrook. Illinois State Police and Northbrook Fire Department officials responded to the crash north of Dundee Road on I-94 in the northern suburb on Wednesday, July 16, at approximately 10:42 a.m., according to the coroner's office. Emergency responders took 60-year-old Jianzhong Tan, of Chicago, to Endeavor Health Highland Park Hospital, where he was pronounced dead in the emergency room. The cause of death, as determined by the coroner's office, was blunt force injuries as a result of the crash. Tan's vehicle, a Toyota Sienna minivan, caused 'significant damage' in a construction zone in that area, the coroner's office said. The crash remains under investigation by the Illinois State Police.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Officials ID victim of fatal crash on US 93
May 22—Authorities on Thursday identified the victim of a deadly May 17 crash in Lake County. Elmo resident Sunshine Swalley, 22, was killed in the collision on U.S. 93 near Big Arm, according to Lake County Sheriff Don Bell. According to the Highway Patrol crash report, Swalley was driving a Jeep Wrangler northbound on U.S. 93 at about 2:38 a.m. when she entered the southbound lane and collided head-on with a tanker trailer driven by a 50-year-old Kalispell man. Both vehicles caught fire and temporarily blocked the highway. Swalley died at the scene and the tanker driver was transported to a hospital with injuries. The circumstances of the crash remain under investigation by Montana Highway Patrol and the Lake County Coroner's Office. Road conditions were wet at the time of the crash, according to the Highway Patrol report.
