Chicago's homicide toll surpasses 400

By Tracy Swartz
RedEye

Englewood saw two homicides this week, bringing its 2009 murder toll to 17 victims.

On Sunday, a 20-year-old man was found shot to death in the 500 block of West  58th Street, according to police information. The next day, a 21-year-old man was shot and killed about four blocks away.

This year, Englewood has seen 16 shooting deaths and one fatal beating, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found.

Fourteen of the 17 victims were male, 14 were under the age of 30 when they died and all victims were black, according to data from the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

Citywide, the homicide death toll for the year surpassed 400 victims this month. As of Wednesday afternoon, there have been 418 homicide victims, including 11 victims of automobile crashes in which the driver was initially charged with reckless homicide, RedEye found.

This month, there have been 25 homicides, including a fatal car crash that killed two people in Greater Grand Crossing. The driver in that crash initially was charged with reckless homicide. Police logged 38 murders in November last year.

To check the number of murders in your neighborhood, go to the RedEye homicide map.