Englewood Gang Members Charged In 11 South Side Slayings
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Authorities announced charges Friday against several purported gang members in connection to nearly a dozen murders executed in the Englewood neighborhood by a Gangster Disciples faction known as Goonie Boss.
The charges allege purported Goonie Boss leader Romeo Blackman and his gang terrorized the Englewood neighborhood in a long-running, violent feud with rival gangs in the area.
Authorities allege Blackman and three of his gang members killed 11 people between January 2014 and July 2016. Blackman allegedly was responsible for at least seven of those murders. Federal prosecutors said the gang also stole firearms, and used violence to prevent witnesses from giving information to police.
Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said the gang "terrorized countless numbers of families" in Englewood.
Sources said the faction has been operating for years in the streets and alleys near 72nd and 73rd near Hermitage, Paulina, Marshfield, and Ashland.
"Englewood is safer today because of this investigation," Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx said.
Gang members named in the indictment were open about their affiliation with the Goonie Boss faction, posting comments, photos and Facebook Live videos detailing their acts of violence online.
The indictment names Blackman, 22, as the gang leader. He has been charged with racketeering conspiracy, along with fellow Chicago gang members Nathaniel McElroy, 21, Terrance Smith, 22, and Jolicious Turman, 27.
The racketeering indictment charges those four men with 10 murders, six attempted murders, and two assaults dating back to 2014.
"This was a very complex and detailed investigation that required unrivaled commitment and dedication from our officers, detectives, agents, and prosecutors," Johnson said.
The murders charged in the federal indictment include:
• Turman allegedly killed 34-year-old Kenneth Whittaker on July 1, 2016, near Stagg Elementary School;
• Gang members allegedly killed 19-year-old Gerald Bumper on June 30, 2016;
• Turman allegedly killed 34-year-old Ramal Hicks outside of a West Englewood store on June 20, 2016;
• Blackman and McElroy allegedly killed 38-year-old Gerald Sias inside an Englewood barbershop on May 26, 2016;
• Blackman allegedly killed 19-year-old Davon Horace on Jan. 15, 2016, in the 7200 block of South May Street;
• Blackman allegedly killed 26-year-old Andre Donner on Dec. 13, 2015, in the 7200 block of South May Street;
• Blackman and Smith allegedly killed 25-year-old Krystal Jackson on Nov. 19, 2014, in the 6800 block of South Loomis Boulevard;
• Blackman and Smith allegedly killed 18-year-old Stanley Bobo on Oct. 23, 2014, in the 1400 block of West 72nd Street;
• Blackman allegedly killed 24-year-old Alonzo Williams on March 21, 2014, in the 1200 block of West 70th Street;
• Blackman allegedly killed 21-year-old Johnathon Johnson on Jan. 22, 2014, in the 6900 block of South Racine Avenue.
The maximum sentence for racketeering is generally 20 years, but underlying racketeering activities can carry life sentences or the death penalty.
A fifth gang member, 19-year-old Christian Sivels, faces a separate state charge of first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old David Easley, who was shot in the 7000 block of South Carpenter Street in 2016. Sivels faces a sentence of 45 years to life in prison.
More than a dozen other defendants have been charged with federal weapons violations.
All 23 defendants in the case were already in custody on other criminal charges.
