Chicago sees 139% spike in murders for July, shootings up 75%; 9-year-old boy killed on last day of violent month

Murders and shootings in Chicago soared in July compared to the same month in 2019, according to a police report released on Saturday.

There were 105 murders reported last month in Chicago, a spike of nearly 139% compared to July 2019. Chicago suffered 406 shooting incidents in July, surging 75% from last year.

Police say that murders are up 51% in 2020, compared to the time frame of January 2019 until July 2019. There was also a 47% increase in shootings over the same period.

August hasn't started off in a promising manner. So far this weekend since 6 p.m. on Friday, at least 27 people have been shot, seven were killed, including a 9-year-old boy.

Chicago police responded to a shooting around 6:45 p.m. on Friday. Janari Andre Ricks was in a parking lot with friends when a gunman opened fire. The 9-year-old suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was transported to Lurie Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

"He was in the house all day, he didn't come out 'til maybe after 5 when one of his friends knocked on the door to ask if he could come outside to play," his mother, Jalisa Ford, said. "And I allowed him to come out to play with his friends. He never made it back to the house."

Janari's father, Raymond Ricks, said his son was going to get a video game controller from a friend's house when he was gunned down on the last day of July.

"It's senseless, I'm still lost," the father told CNN. "He was everything. He was an inspiration behind all kids around in the community. Sports, anything, he would tell you stats from back in the day about everybody. He was a genius."

As of July 26, Chicago has seen 212 children shot, 36 fatally. Some of the kids who have been shot and killed in Chicago include 13-year-old Amaria Jones, 10-year-old Lena Nunez, 7-year-old Natalie Wallace, 3-year-old Mekhi James, and 20-month-old Sincere Gaston.

George Bady, founder of Stop The Violence, said children are scared. "They are very scared; they are scared to come outside, they are scared to sit in their front rooms now, some scared to go outside because they might not make it back home," Bady said.

Last month, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) claimed rising gun violence is because the city is "being inundated with guns" from outside states. "We are being inundated with guns from states that have virtually no gun control, no background checks, no ban on assault weapons," Lightfoot said.