Two Brothers Killed in Two Weeks

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Mar 8, 2009 3:45PM

Carnell Pitts, 18, was shot and killed at a house party on the South Side late Friday night, just two weeks after his younger brother, Kendrick Pitts, 17, was shot and killed along with two others. Carnell Pitts had allegedly been arguing with someone and was shot in the back. He later died at Advocate Trinity Hospital of multiple gunshot wounds. The death was ruled a homicide, and the police do not have any suspects in custody at this time.

Kendrick Pitts was killed on February 20 along with Johnny Edwards, 13, and Raheem Washington, 15. The three of them were at the corner of 87th Street and Exchange Ave. in the South Chicago neighborhood when they were shot. Police arrested Martin Ybarra, 20, in connection to the incident. Police believe that the suspect shot the three teens with an AK-47 assault rifle while aiming for someone else.

The Chicago police department is reporting that homicides have gone down so far in 2009, as compared to this time in 2008, however February was decidedly more violent than January. There were 24 murders in January, and 26 murders in February. The murder rate is still down 7.4 percent over last year, but at the end of January homicides had been down 29.4 percent.

Carnell Pitts had graduated in 2008 from Bowen High School where his brother and Washington had been students also. This school year has been particularly bloody for Chicago Public Schools. By mid-January almost twice as many students had been killed by gunfire as there had been the year before.