James Chatman, 57, male, was shot late Saturday morning on September 6, 2025, in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood. He was in the 3000 block of West Polk Street around 10:13 a.m. when someone opened fire, striking him multiple times. Responding officers and paramedics took him to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly afterward; the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.
Authorities initially reported no one in custody as detectives canvassed the block and interviewed witnesses. Records list Chatman as a resident of the 4200 block of West 21st Place on the city’s West Side, underscoring how the killing reverberated within the community he called home.
Within days, investigators named a suspect. On September 9, Chicago police announced the arrest of 26-year-old Jermaine Sutton, who was charged with first-degree murder in Chatman’s killing and with a misdemeanor count of cannabis possession. Police and prosecutors said Sutton was the gunman who opened fire on Polk Street that morning; he was slated for a court appearance the following Wednesday.
The shooting formed part of a violent early-September weekend in the city, though the details of Chatman’s final moments remained stark in their specificity: broad daylight on a residential block, a flurry of shots, a race to the hospital that could not change the outcome. In the aftermath, a memorial page marking his name and date of death joined the growing ledger of lives lost to gun violence, as the court case against the accused moved forward.
