African American male, age 21, Dariontae Adams died on May 24, 2020, in Chicago, Illinois. Shortly after 7:45 a.m., an automated ShotSpotter alert drew officers to the 1000 block of North Drake Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the city's Northwest Side.
Police found the 21 year old male with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, where he was pronounced dead; the Cook County medical examiner identified him and ruled the death a homicide.
Months later, Chicago police announced an arrest in the case. On January 16, 2021, Perry Jackson, 21, of the Austin neighborhood, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting.
Investigators said Jackson was taken into custody around 2:10 p.m. the previous day in the 2200 block of North Main Street in Crown Point, Indiana, after being identified as the person who allegedly shot Dariontae Adams. He was scheduled to appear in Central Bond Court the same day the charges were announced.
The killing unfolded during a violent Memorial Day weekend in Chicago, when multiple shootings were reported across the city. Amid that grim tally, the death of 21 year old male Dariontae Adams in Humboldt Park stood out for its early-morning timing and the speed with which police later named and arrested a suspect, linking a neighborhood block on North Drake Avenue to a man found mortally wounded and a charge of first-degree murder filed months later.
