Not yet fully verified. Facts are tagged with their confidence level; family-supplied details have not all been checked against a primary record.
Biographical Information
Antonina Lo Verde was born in Italy on 27 July 1864, a daughter of Angelo Lo Verde and Concetta Gallina Confirmed. She married Carlo Lo Cascio on 10 October 1877 at Chiusa Sclafani, Province of Palermo (Diocese of Monreale) Confirmed, and the couple later emigrated to Chicago, settling in the Sicilian "Little Sicily" district on the Near North Side. On 12 June 1915 she was shot to death on the front steps of her home at 1104 Cambridge Avenue by two men who escaped — assassinated in the classic Black Hand manner Confirmed. She was 50. Her killing is recorded both in the Chicago Police homicide index (Case #4250) and on her Cook County death certificate, and it is the family's long-remembered story of "a relative killed by the Black Hand," now proven. Fourteen months earlier her son Michael had been named a suspect in a related neighbourhood killing — the vendetta struck one household on both sides.
Confidence of each fact: Confirmed primary record · Probable strong but unproven · Inherited family knowledge · Conflict sources disagree · Hypothesis working theory
Full Name & Name Variations
Antonina Lo Verde
Antonina Loverde Locascio - married name (death record / Find a Grave)Inherited
Antonina Lo Verde - named in daughter Rose's 1901 marriage recordInherited
"Locassis, Antonia" - as mangled in the police homicide register, Case #4250Inherited
Antoinette - the anglicised form the family rememberedInherited
Birth & Death
Born: 27 July 1864, Chiusa Sclafani, Province of Palermo, Sicily (origin confirmed via the 1877 marriage register)
Place: Chiusa Sclafani (Palermo), Sicily
Died: 12 June 1915, Chicago — murdered (shot) at 1104 Cambridge Ave.; buried 16 June 1915, Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Hillside
Places of Residence
1104 Cambridge Avenue, Chicago ("Gault Court," Little Sicily / Near North Side) — the 1915 murder scene
THE BLACK HAND STORY — CONFIRMED (Sessions 49–50). Antonina was the murdered relative of family tradition. The Chicago Police Homicide Record Index, Case #4250, records victim "Locassis, Antonia," age 51, shot to death on the front steps of 1104 Cambridge Ave. on 12 June 1915 by two men who escaped (38th Precinct). Her Cook County death certificate gives the same address and date, married housewife, maiden name Lo Verde — a conclusive match.Confirmed
Why earlier searches failed: the homicide register is transcribed verbatim with the surname mangled as "Locassis" (also "Locaccio" / "Locassio"), so "Locascio" and "Cascio" keyword searches came back empty. A "Locass" wildcard returns only this case and her son Michael's — the family's entire footprint in the index.Confirmed
The accused: John Catalanatto (arrested 26 June 1915; died 24 Oct 1918, case abated) and Mike Catalanatto (surrendered 7 July 1915; nolled). No conviction followed.Confirmed
Her parents, from the death certificate: Angelo Lo Verde (father) and Concetta Gallina (mother) — the subject's 3× great-grandparents, newly surfaced.Confirmed
ITALIAN MARRIAGE FOUND — ORIGIN TOWN CHIUSA SCLAFANI (Session 69). Her marriage to Carlo Lo Cascio — 10 October 1877, in the Chiusa Sclafani parish marriage register (Diocese of Monreale, Province of Palermo) — independently names her parents Angelo Lo Verde & Concetta Gallina and, on the groom's side, Mariano Lo Cascio & Maria Giuseppa Lo Monaco. It pins the family's Sicilian home to Chiusa Sclafani, Palermo, and the tree links this record's Antonina (1864–1915) to her Chicago death records.Confirmed
The vendetta reached inside the family (Session 52). Her son Michael Lo Cascio (b.1888) was a wanted suspect in the 2 April 1914 killing of Joe Ingo (homicide Case #3945) — one son on the accused side in 1914, the mother a victim in 1915.Confirmed
Period context (secondary Black Hand histories — context, not proof): 1104 Cambridge sat in "Gault Court," beside "Death Corner" (Oak & Milton) in Little Sicily; on 11 Feb 1915 police found two bombs in "Mrs. Locascio's" basement at 940 Milton Ave., four months before the murder; a district gang roster (the "Catalanetto crew") lists John Catalanetto and the Locascio men.Probable
Buried 16 June 1915 at Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Hillside — the same cemetery as her son Michael (d.1947).Confirmed
Descent: Antonina Lo Verde > Rose Locascio > Carl Joseph Russo > P.A.R. > P.J.B..Inherited
Cook County death record — Antonina Locascio, 12 June 1915 ↗Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1871–1998 (also Illinois Deaths & Burials). Died 12 June 1915, 1104 Cambridge Ave., Chicago; born 27 July 1864, Italy; married housewife; buried 16 June 1915, Mt. Carmel; parents Angelo Loverde & Concetta Gallina; spouse Carlo Locascio; record #61, coroner's note cn 17372.FamilySearch / Cook County
Chicago's Black Hand — period context (GangsterBB compilation) ↗Secondary/user-contributed: Cambridge Ave = "Gault Court" in Little Sicily; 1915 bombs at "Mrs. Locascio's," 940 Milton Ave.; the "Catalanetto crew" roster naming John Catalanetto and the Locascio men. Context only, not primary proof.GangsterBB — secondary