A year has passed since Fox News analyst Gianno Caldwell's 18-year-old brother, Christian, was fatally shot in Chicago, and no suspects have been named in connection with his murder.
Christian was one of three victims shot the night of June 24, 2022, on the South Side — the other two of whom were wounded, according to the Chicago Police Department. The other victims, a 31-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, were unknown to Christian, who was out with friends at the time.
"Today marks one year since the murder of my innocent baby brother Christian, and I am calling on the FBI to take over this investigation," Caldwell told Fox News Digital. "Like many others, I do not trust my hometown’s county prosecutor, Kim Foxx, to properly prosecute, or the Chicago Police Department, which has had ample opportunity to solve this case, including with recent evidence."
Chicago, which has a population of nearly 2.7 million people, recorded 291 murders and 1,137 shooting incidents at the same time last year, compared to 271 murders and 1,074 shootings so far this year. The Chicago Police Department (CPD) has solved about 50% of homicide cases annually, on average, over the last several years.
"A year has passed and there is no confirmed progress that ensures those responsible for murder are held to account under the highest penalty of law," Caldwell said. "I am also calling on Congress to hold soft-on-crime prosecutors across our country to account — those who refuse to do their job out of politics and radical ideology which is endangering the lives of Americans."
The lead detective on Christian's case did not respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital.
Eugene Roy, who was a CPD officer for more than 30 years, shared his thoughts on why 50% of homicide cases go unsolved, and why no suspects have been named yet in Christian's case.
Roy said in a case like Christian's, there are "no witnesses coming forward" with information to give to police, despite the fact that there were two other injured victims and despite the fact that the crime scene was near a club on a Friday.
An unidentified male offender entered a black sedan and fled the scene eastbound after the shooting, according to CPD. The department has not shared any updates since the incident occurred.
"You have to understand the predicament witnesses find themselves in. They just saw three people shot — one of them fatally. Maybe acquaintances, maybe friends, maybe family," said Roy. "But there's a message in there. … They know that the police can't protect them. They know the system can't protect them. They know that if they identify somebody and come to court and testify that they're putting themselves and their families at risk."
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Roy said there is no "viable" witness assistance program in Cook County.
The second reason a case like Christian's does not get solved, he said, is because of "the diminished proactive policing here in Chicago now" and "the lack of cooperation from the state's attorney" with CPD.
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When Roy was with CPD, if officers caught an "armed felon," that suspect would not be "on probation or parole, he would be going back to the penitentiary," and investigators could make efforts to work with the suspect and the state's attorney to get more information from the suspect about other crimes.
Now, he said, repeat violent offenders "know they are not going to be sent back to the state penitentiary." Repeat offenders "know that, at worst, they're going to get some sort of token sentence," which "actually gives them street cred." But the relationship between CPD and the state's attorney's office "has sailed," Roy explained.
The former officer added that "proactive policing is discouraged politically" in Chicago and significant "manpower shortages" have contributed to the souring of that relationship. CPD has lost more than 1,400 officers since March 2020, according to a CWB Chicago analysis of data from the Inspector General's office.
Caldwell knows his family is one of many in Chicago holding out hope that their loved ones will see justice.
"It’s been a long painful year but I will not rest until there’s complete and total justice for my brother," he said. "Please join me in praying for the too-many other families whose loved ones have been murdered across our country and have yet had any promise of justice. We are all in this together and will never stop believing that God will help provide justice for all such families."
Caldwell and his brother were two of nine siblings who grew up poor in Chicago. He has repeatedly criticized the city's soft-on-crime policies that allow repeat offenders back on the streets.
Born in 2004, Christian was the youngest of the siblings and had just turned 18 in 2022. Caldwell previously told Fox News Digital that Christian and his other younger brothers are like sons to him as the oldest sibling.
