Jonathan Barr, 46, was killed in a mass shooting on August 20, 2024, in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. He was riding a motorcycle with friends when a group in the area was sprayed with bullets; several companions were wounded and Barr was the only person who suffered fatal injuries.

Barr was one of five young men wrongly convicted in the 1991 rape and murder of 14-year-old Cateresa Matthews in Dixmoor. He spent 14 years in prison after convictions tied to coerced false confessions and despite DNA from the scene that excluded them. DNA testing later identified Willie Randolph as the real perpetrator, and Barr’s conviction was vacated on November 3, 2011; charges against all five men were dismissed. After exoneration he rebuilt his life, started a family and opened an auto repair shop, and was active in work supporting fellow exonerees.

Anyone who knew Barr or has information about the August 20 shooting is asked to come forward.