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Argument Over a Girl Leads to Englewood Man's Murder, Witnesses Say

By Quinn Ford | August 23, 2013 7:00am
 Ronald Henry, 22, was shot and killed in Englewood Wednesday night. Witnesses said the shooting began after an argument over a girl.
Ronald Henry
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ENGLEWOOD — Germany Clark still had the hospital band wrapped around his wrist as he sat inside his home Thursday morning. His leg had been grazed by a bullet the night before, but Clark downplayed his injury.

"I'm doing alright," he said.

About 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, Clark was hanging out with a group of people in the 6700 block of South Sangamon Street.

Clark's friend, Ronald Henry, was talking to some girls when a man who was with one of the girls became angry and started arguing with Henry.

"He was all hyped up," Clark said of the man. "It was all over a girl."

Clark said he did not know the man but said minutes after the argument ended, someone pulled a gun and began shooting.

"They blindsided us," he said.

Neighbors said they heard four or five shots and saw Henry run toward the corner of 67th and Sangamon streets before collapsing.

Authorities said Henry, 22, was shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead on the scene at 10:34 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. Clark suffered a graze wound to his leg and was treated at St. Bernard Hospital.

Thursday morning, neighbors said they were rattled by a shooting death so close to home. James Washington, an Englewood resident of 25 years, said it was the first shooting on the 6700 block of South Sangamon Street he could remember.

"Families live on this block," he said. "It may happen all around us, but not here."

Friends of Henry called his murder a tragedy. They described the father of two as a funny, low-key, "respectable young man."

"He was just a sweet person," said Mary Mangrum, a close family friend. "He was like a son to me. I've never known him to be anything but respectable."

Mangrum said she wanted to see young people "think before they grab a gun" and attributed some of that short-sightedness to a lack of guidance and opportunities in the neighborhood.

"You can't help where you live; you gotta deal with what you're dealt," she said. "Young people need to get together and start knowing each other instead of hating each other. It just seems like there's so much hate."