Lavonte X. Hodges, 33, was killed in an early afternoon street shooting on May 30, 2025, on the first block of South Springfield Avenue in West Garfield Park. A black sedan slowed near the curb, fired into the group standing there, and drove off westbound. Hodges was struck multiple times in the chest, taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition and pronounced dead at 10:49 a.m.; a 30-year-old woman who had been standing beside him suffered a grazing wound to the back of her neck and was treated at the scene.

Area Four detectives processed shell casings, canvassed for cameras and traced the sedan’s path, but by nightfall no suspect had been announced and no arrests were made. Memorials and casualty listings later recorded his name, age, date and location, but the identity of the shooter and the motive remain unknown. If anyone on South Springfield Avenue that morning saw the black sedan or has information about the shooting, please come forward.