LOGAN SQUARE — Two people who had been living in the "problem house" where a 6-year-old girl was shot outside have been permanently banned from the property, according to a deal struck between the owner and the city.
The homeowner appeared in court Thursday during a hearing over building code violations that resulted in the residents being forced out of the home last week.
The Department of Buildings conducted a task force inspection on the property, 2108 N. Bingham St., June 9 after complaints from multiple sources, including a 311 complaint, department spokeswoman Mimi Simon said.
Paul Biasco talks about the deal the city reached with the homeowner.
The homeowner agreed to list the property for sale and keep the home vacant until it sells, according to both attorneys in court Thursday.
As part of the deal, the homeowner's relatives who had been living in the house and were the cause of problems on the block are permanently banned, the attorneys said.
"We have been working on this home for years," said Rocio Varela, a staffer in 1st Ward Ald. Proco Joe Moreno's office.
Varela said Moreno's offices had received dozens of calls regarding issues with the home, which she described as a "party house" where fights often broke out and there had been reports of gunfire.
A police officer from the Shakespeare District who spoke during the hearing Thursday morning said he had communicated with the man and woman who had lived in the home and who are now banned, and said he did not anticipate they would be changing their ways because of the latest shooting.
Varela said Ald. Moreno also spoke with the two tenants, and they did not cooperate.
Three days after 6-year-old Jaylene Bermeo was shot in the back while playing outside the home, a strategic task force inspected the building.
The task force determined the home was unsafe to be lived in and forced the residents out.
The strategic inspections task force program is a partnership between multiple city agencies, including the Department of Buildings and the Chicago Police Department, that conducts inspections and investigations of buildings that are the subject of ongoing criminal activity — especially drug and gang activity.
Cook County Circuit Judge Pamela Hughes Gillespie said that it was a shame it took the latest shooting for there to be action taken regarding the home, where neighbors said issues had been ongoing for more than a decade.
Jaylene was readmitted to Stroger Hospital Thursday and is in guarded condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Department of Buildings records indicate the home had failed six inspections since 2008, including a strategic task force inspection in June 2008.
Building violation records indicate inspectors dinged the homeowner on issues such as missing digits of the address posted on the building, missing gutter downspouts, missing roof shingles and high weeds in the backyard.
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