Chicago, IL – A man who is reportedly the father of 43 children was found deceased with head trauma on Sunday afternoon in his home in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side.
John “Nicholas” Hearring, 63, was found dead in his upstairs apartment in the 1000-block of North Leamington Avenue at about 1 p.m. on July 15, WLS-TV reported.
Multiple family members confirmed that Hearring had been the father of 43 children, WLS reported. He was a long-time resident of the area and was well-known in the neighborhood.
Initially, authorities thought Hearring had been beaten to death.
Police said that Hearring had suffered “unknown blunt trauma to the head” in initial reports, but later determined that he had actually been shot, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
"He was the nicest man you'd ever want to meet. I don't get it. All this killing is so senseless and now they are targeting the elderly," Hearring’s daughter-in-law Gwen Bridgeforth told WLS.
Hearring’s death was being investigated as a homicide. No arrests have yet been made in his murder, but the investigation was ongoing, police said.
The prolific father was one of eight people who were shot in Chicago on Sunday, three of whom died, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Kejuan Griffin, 21, was fatally shot in the head and chest after three men got out of an SUV and opened fire on him, police said. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
And a 59-year-old woman was killed when a man attempted to carjack the car she was riding in with a 71-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman.
Police said the suspect pulled out a gun and announced he was carjacking the vehicle. Instead of giving in, the 71-year-old driver attempted to drive away, and the suspect fired his weapon into the back of the vehicle, fatally shooting the 59-year-old passenger.
The Chicago Sun-Times has tracked every homicide in the city limits of Chicago, and reported that there had been 270 homicides in 2018 through as of July 11.
There were 650 murders in Chicago in 2017, and 771 murders in 2016, according to CNN.
