Chicagoist Weekend Blotter

By Shannon in News on May 27, 2007 9:30PM

It's been a while since a blotter, eh? Let's get right into it, shall we?

• A Calumet City man was denied bond after being arrested for beating his girlfriend's 4-year-old son to death. Cameron Smith was found dead Thursday in the apartment that he shared with his 7- and 8-year old siblings, as well as 23-year-old Donell Parker. Parker was in charge of the kids since their mother and Parker's girlfriend, Sgt. Lavada Smith, was called to active duty in Iraq. Parker allegedly beat the boy over a span of two days, punching him in the stomach and head and whipping him with a belt. The other children were unharmed and are now with their maternal grandparents.



• A 17-year-old boy died in a house fire early Sunday morning on the far South Side. Jerrell Watkins initially made it out of his two-story house on E. 136th, but then went back inside to look for more people. Watkins' father, at least seven other boys, and a 43-year-old woman were in the building at the time; all but Jerrell made it out safely. He ended up stranded in the basement, where he was later found. The woman was taken to the hospital for chest pains unrelated to the fire.
• A 10-year police veteran was stripped of his duties and arrested Saturday for beating up a 15-year-old boy. Robert Gallegos, a member of Chicago's Mass Transit police team, allegedly sought out the boy in an alley last week for a verbal altercation he had with Gallegos' son. The beleaguered minor suffered a broken jaw and multiple bruises in the attack. Gallegos' lawyer claims the boy made threats toward his client. The former officer's bond is set at $100,000.
• In a freak accident, a 44-year-old man was cut in half at a Chicago Tribune facility. Isaiah Shannon, a contract worker, was working Saturday morning at Tribune's Freedom Center at 777 W. Chicago, when he was caught between an elevator and a conveyor belt. Shannon was one of 19 (!) children and moved to Chicago from Missouri in the '80s. He had been working at the Freedom Center for a year and a half.

Image courtesy of Jeff Cagle.