Man suspected in wife's slaying kills himself

Man suspected in wife's slaying kills himself
August 18, 2009 5:49 PM
A man suspected of fatally shooting his wife this morning in a domestic dispute killed himself after a standoff with police, authorities said.

About 1 a.m., police responded to the 5200 block of West Ferdinand Street and found a 52-year-old woman shot in the back. Her estranged husband had fled the scene and killed himself a little before 7 a.m., police said.

The woman was identified as Christine Johnson, of the address in the 5200 block of West Ferdinand, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. She was declared dead at the medical examiner's office at 4 a.m.


An autopsy ruled that she died of multiple gunshot wounds and her death was ruled a homicide, officials said.

An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday for Johnson's husband Gardell Tyler, 57,of the 3000 block of West Walnut Street who is suspected of fatally shooting himself, officials said.


Court records show Johnson took out an order of protection against her husband in 2006 at the same time he was charged with domestic battery, but that the order and the charges were dropped after she failed to appear in court about a month after the cases began.

Johnson's estranged husband then broke down the door to the bedroom and she started screaming, drawing the attention of the 23-year-old daughter, who was across the street at the time, family said. The daughter rushed back to the home but had to break a window to get in because her father had locked the doors, family said.

The daughter tried to intervene as her father shot Johnson about five times but could not stop him from shooting, family members said.

"She went into the bedroom where my sister had been shot and shielded her by lying on top of her after [her husband] had already shot her once,'' said Leslie Brown Simmons, the victim's sister. "Even with his daughter on top of [her] he still kept shooting."
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Man suspected in wife slaying kills himself