Nothing like leaving a calling card:
A suspect in custody for the shooting death of a woman at a Gold Coast hotel had left his cell phone in the room, police say.
[...] The suspect, who has previous convictions for residential burglary and aggravated battery, was out on parole for a 2007 drug conviction, according to state records.
Authorities arrested the 28-year-old man late Tuesday night at his home in the Humboldt Park neighborhood for the slaying of Brianna Gardner, 22, of Dallas, Texas, according to Chicago police.
We suppose this one will go down in the "solved" column, a rare enough event that it deserves praise. Someone asked about the clearance numbers the other day and a helpful detective forwarded us some actual numbers that are pretty depressing:
- Of the 336 murders to date (16 August), only 80 have been classified as "cleared." That means 256 have not been solved, and that is a dismal 24.81% success rate - less than one-in-four.
That "no-snitching" policy seems to be working out really well for the denizens of the south and west sides.
On a brighter note, Chicago is nearing 30 homicides for the month of August. Last year's total was some incredibly low number, 35 or 36, meaning we'll probably blow by those totals in a week. Any word on how McCompStat is going to spin it? He was so eager to take credit for his strategies working miracles last month by reducing the homicide totals by 6 from July 2011. This month isn't looking good at all.