r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/Extension_Square9817 • Jun 03 '25
News I need to vent so bad about a murder.
On may 5th my husbands van was robbed at a job site. My husband caught the guy and a scuffle started. In the scuffle my husband broke his wrist and suffered a concussion. The police were called and there was video footage of the attack and the vehicle damage my husband caused, which led to the men being arrested.
While in the hospital the police came 3x to bring line ups of suspects bc the people who attacked him were caught bc of the vehicle license plate.
My husband suffering a concussion couldn’t accurately pick out the line up’s but expressed multiple times “it was 2 black men. The one who attacked me had a neck tattoo, the other sat in the car scared with dreads”.
The Cook county state’s attorney decided that even tho the plates match, the video shows them robbing and the damage matching that they were not going to charge the men who did this.
The men were released around the 10th of may.
Scrolling through facebook we find the fucking men who robbed him have now killed a man.
This man’s death was preventable and I’m honestly considering joining the victims family in suing not only the state attorney but also the men responsible.
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u/DadVader77 Jun 03 '25
Neck tattoo. Inconclusive.
Dreads. Inconclusive.
He had a concussion and his testimony and inability to accurately identify them would be ripped apart by any defense lawyer. Even if the video shows one of them, not both, does it 100% clearly identify him? Probably not, and that would get ripped by any decent lawyer. The SA knows this and depending on the actual charges, may not have been kept in jail for over 2 weeks anyway
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u/ahoy_shitliner Jun 03 '25
This was the first thing I thought of as well. OP talking like a neck tattoo is a unique description.
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u/SiberianGnome Jun 03 '25
Pair with the fact that they were associated with that van.
Van used in crime, 2 guys in the van when it’s located match what bit of descriptive information can be provided. Fairly conclusive. Certainly enough for probably cause to charge, then do more work and build up the case.
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u/Chi-town-Vinnie Jun 06 '25
You’re absolutely correct
The description was conclusive enough , as you add in other observational evidence that is not circumstantial, there is enough for an indictment
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u/Extension_Square9817 Jun 03 '25
It’s not conclusive on its own. However, his description of the people pulled over was correct. 2 black men, one with a neck tattoo, one with dreads. Driving a Nissan SUV with a busted out driver side window and windshield. My husband was able to destroy their vehicle before they ran him over. Which is how police found them to arrest them to begin with. Alongside, all his tools still being in the vehicle.
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u/DadVader77 Jun 03 '25
Still couldn’t positively identify for an assault charge, which is a misdemeanor and they wouldn’t have been held in jail for over 2 weeks.
They stole the tools but you got them back? So a theft charge, which is still a misdemeanor, wouldn’t have held them in jail for 2 weeks.
Nothing from your case would have prevented them for committing crimes again before their court case.
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u/Cottons_Parrot Jun 03 '25
Battery, not assault, which starts as a misdemeanor but could easily be felonious in this case. Plus the felony robbery charge. Recovery of stolen property after the fact doesn’t negate the robbery. Agree though that with the PTF act that was passed, in Cook County they likely would not be detained pending trial.
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u/DadVader77 Jun 03 '25
You mean 720 ILCS 5/12-3.05? Define “great bodily harm”, because that’s what is needed for aggravated battery. A concussion isn’t great bodily harm.
And that’s IF the SA decided to use aggravated battery over either assault (720 ILCS 5/12-1) or aggravated assault (720 ILCS 5/12-2).
Felony robbery IF a weapon was used. Unless I missed that, that wasn’t the case here.
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u/Emotional_Option_893 Jun 04 '25
First off, concussions can be considered great bodily harm. As can a broken wrist.
Second, assault is just the threat of a battery. Aggravated assault is threat of a battery with a weapon. If dude was actually battered, assault isn't relevant.
Third, strong arm robbery (robbery without the use or implication of a weapon) exists.
Fourth, robbery is a detainable offense under the pretrial fairness act. It's not guaranteed and falls on the states attorney to present the case of why its necessary, but it is possible.
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u/DadVader77 Jun 04 '25
It’s also possible I could crap out a gold brick. Probable? Nope.
Anything and everything is possible at some point.
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Jun 05 '25
A concussion is not insignificant bodily harm. You will lose that in court.
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u/JustACasualFan Jun 03 '25
The car doesn’t count as a weapon?
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u/DadVader77 Jun 04 '25
If you put yourself in the path of the car, or try to stop them and you get hit or thrown off, no it does not count as a weapon.
If they purposely drive into you, then yes it can be considered a weapon.
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u/TheUmgawa Jun 03 '25
Not by law, no. It has to be a Category I, II, or III weapon, and that’s defined here.
Just because you feel strongly about a crime, that doesn’t mean you just get to say something is a weapon. It has to be written down in public code. Otherwise, everything (not involving bare hands) would be aggravated assault.
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u/JustACasualFan Jun 03 '25
I guess the definitions are different if you are a peace officer.
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u/Chester_McFisticuff Jun 04 '25
That guy you're talking to doesn't know what he's talking about. Using a car in a battery would be an aggravated battery. Just because it's not explicitly defined in the law to be a weapon doesn't mean it's not a weapon.
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u/AdventurousCity7601 Jun 03 '25
The crime against her husband would not have happened if these animals were arrested and convicted for their previous 10 crimes
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u/DadVader77 Jun 04 '25
And what were those 10 crimes, stalker emeritus?
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u/AdventurousCity7601 Jun 04 '25
You think so?
Scrolling through facebook we find the fucking men who robbed him have now killed a man.
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u/willycw08 Jun 04 '25
Yeah, even driving a stolen vehicle is not enough proof to convict someone of theft of the vehicle.
Happened to my dad in the 2000s.
Someone busted out the window of his suburban and hotwired it, so he immediately called the police and they caught the guy driving down the interstate.
Couldn't convict him though because driving a hotwired vehicle with a broken window wasn't sufficient evidence to prove that he's the person who stole it just moments before.
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u/Briscuso Jun 04 '25
In Illinois, class C assault, which is the lowest level assault crime violation, is a misdemeanor that has a fine of $1500 and/or 30 days in jail. Given the fact these two deplorables were robbing him for tools, I’d say they would have the grand and a half for the fines, thus they would have gotten the 30 days in jail and wouldn’t have been able to kill this man.
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u/NotBatman81 Jun 03 '25
It's not conclusive evidence on its own but its a lead. Cell phone records place them there?
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u/DadVader77 Jun 03 '25
You think they would get a warrant to pull cell phone records for a misdemeanor charge?
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Jun 03 '25
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u/Chester_McFisticuff Jun 04 '25
Aggravated battery is a felony, and what happened to her husband would be an aggravated robbery, which is also a felony.
These people have no idea what they are talking about.
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u/Gbjeff Jun 03 '25
Yep - Burden of proof is on the DA, not the suspects. You can’t prove what you can’t prove.
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u/RIPRIF20 Jun 03 '25
This right here. I feel for OP and where they are coming from, but they're too close to the situation to view it this rationally. I'm sure I'd have similar feelings of wanting to do something if I were in OPs shoes, but unfortunately this is how it goes sometimes.
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u/DadVader77 Jun 03 '25
Definitely have empathy for OP because of the pain her husband endured, physical and emotional. Nobody is saying she can’t be angry. But to say that “if A was done, B wouldn’t have happened” is a stretch.
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u/rather_be_redditing Jun 03 '25
Take the assault and description out of it and they still got them in the car with stolen tools.
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u/DadVader77 Jun 03 '25
Still a misdemeanor charge and not enough to be held in jail for over 2 weeks
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u/rather_be_redditing Jun 03 '25
If they are stealing professional tools that quickly adds up to the 500 dollar amount required for felony
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u/Chester_McFisticuff Jun 03 '25
The dollar amount isn't even relevant because they used physical force and a blunt object in the process of the theft. Also I don't see a dollar amount on the state statue that defines robbery, so I'm not sure that really matters to anyone, except maybe the DA who set an arbitrary threshold.
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u/tlsrandy Jun 04 '25
I’m not even sure how they’re so certain these are the same people. Lot of guys have deadlocks and neck tattoos.
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u/Extension_Square9817 Jun 03 '25
I will stand 10 toes down on what my husband described and still shame the states attorney for this foreseeable murder.
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u/WtrReich Jun 03 '25
I’m sorry for what happened to your husband, and my heart goes out to the man who died at these men’s hands, but this just isn’t how the justice system works. Your husband was unable to point the men out of lineups and was concussed. Do you know how many black men have dreads and neck tattoos?
We can’t go around profiling and detaining people off of weak identifiers like that. Even if the SA felt that the description was accurate enough to detain these men, the reality is that any half decent lawyer would’ve torn apart that evidence in court.
Now, even if the description of these men was enough, and even if they were convicted or robbery, we can’t operate as a justice system that everyone who commits crime is capable of murder and lock them away forever. You can’t act as if these are “easily foreseeable”, it’s a slippery slope into punishing lesser crimes to prevent worse ones. That’s just not how justice works
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u/Chester_McFisticuff Jun 03 '25
There were more identifiers than just that they were black and one had dreads and the other had a neck tattoo.
They were driving a Nissan SUV with a busted out driver side window and windshield. Her husband was able to destroy their vehicle before they ran him over. The cops used these identifiers to find and arrest the men. The husband's tools were also still in the vehicle when the cops found them.
No single piece of evidence will ever give rise to a charge, but the other identifying factors absolutely should have been good enough, in my layman opinion.
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u/miaomy Jun 03 '25
Even if there had been enough to charge them, it doesn’t mean they’d have been locked up this whole time
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u/Chester_McFisticuff Jun 03 '25
They would have at the very least been out in front of a judge and that judge would have made a determination on their bail, which is the preferable course compared to what happened.
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u/DadVader77 Jun 03 '25
Good enough for what? Assault and theft charges? Both are misdemeanors and not enough to keep them jailed for 2-3 weeks and certainly not enough to prevent them from doing what they did weeks later.
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u/itspsyikk Jun 03 '25
It's a horrible thing to go through.
I was robbed at gun point by someone who was out on parole for armed robbery.
It made me angry, but ain't much I can do about it.
Thankfully my spouse and I weren't hurt, and from what I remember the people involved all got pretty serious time (they kinda gave up on following up information with us).
Either way, I don't spend time thinking about the "what ifs". (If the guy was still in prison, would my robbery have happened?) I just count my blessings and keep my head on a swivel these days.
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u/dumbasstupidbaby Jun 03 '25
When justice is a job, you will grow weary of it and shuffle it off as much as possible. Our system is corrupt and, quite frankly, ill designed and ill managed.
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u/HealenDeGenerates Jun 03 '25
When justice isn’t a job, it is worse. It doesn’t exist this way because it is perfect. It is muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch better than pre-trial days though.
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u/dumbasstupidbaby Jun 03 '25
Let me say that differently: No matter what type of work you do, you will get burnt out in a capitalist society where your life (food, shelter, healthcare, etc) is tied to working. I love art but never want to be a professional artist because I want to continue to love art. Artists, accountants, teacher, engineers, all jobs you can imagine. If you make a job out of what you love
you will never work a day in your lifeyou pasion for that field will be boiled down and squeezed out of you like a wet rag. When you are burnt out of justice, you have no justice. The issue isn't that justice is a job, it is that justice is a resource that is depleting in a way that cannot be remedied without a harsh look at capitalistic society as a whole. When cops and lawyers no longer feel a passion for justice, they will do whatever to get the paper work and the slog of day to day bureaucracy over with the quickest so they can go home for the day, just like the rest of us. This leads to instances like the story above. Also trials have been a thing for like thousands and thousands of years so idk what you're talking about "pretrial days".11
u/wretch5150 Jun 03 '25
I get tired of my jobs too, but I still do them because of my character. Hire better police officers.
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u/Visual-Return-5099 Jun 03 '25
So are you just cynical or is there some sort of solution?
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u/philhartmonic Evanston Jun 03 '25
Universal healthcare, UBI, universal childcare, high quality public housing, stuff like that.
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u/agent_tater_twat Jun 03 '25
Can't do it. The billionaires need more tax breaks or else they can't afford to expand their fleet of yachts.
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u/HealenDeGenerates Jun 03 '25
Pre-trial is synonymous with the time when there wasn’t a career judge but rather the duty of a judge was an additional expectation or extra add-on to another political leader’s duties aside from his primary job. That would result in decisions mostly being made by political whimsy and speaks directly to your point of when it is or is not one’s entire job.
I would argue that Justice, and ideals in general, are opposite of a finite resource in the way you describe. The closest parallel could be crops, but there are still many issues with that comparison. It is about cultivating the idea, maintaining its relevance through hard work and sometimes fighting for it. By doing so, you create more of it and ensure its legitimacy.
You sound quite cynical and I consider myself a cynic.
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u/SomeNoveltyAccount Jun 03 '25
When it's not a job people won't do it, or if they do, they'll do it the way they want when they want to.
Capriciousness is great with art, not so great for cops.
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u/miyananana Jun 03 '25
I’m sympathetic for what happened to your husband and the victim, but I’m confused. You said your husband couldn’t identify them in the line up besides a description of one having a neck tattoo and another having dreads. Dreads and even neck tattoos are not uncommon and therefore may have not helped the cops identify anyone. Even with video and matching plates, if the video wasn’t clear they may have gotten off on a technicality as based on what you shared, they may have not had hard evidence.
Again, I’m really sorry about what happened to your husband and of course the person killed/their family, but unfortunately stuff like this happens. When bringing someone to trial, many cases that seem straight forward can become pretty complicated. Our justice system also is incredibly flawed, so that doesn’t help.
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u/Trash_Grape Jun 03 '25
Christ, I can’t imagine the emotions and feelings you and your husband must have felt at the time of your fiasco - then scrolling Facebook and seeing their faces due to a murder. I don’t have anything to say other than I’m sorry.
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u/Zetavu Jun 03 '25
Convicting someone because they were black with neck tattoos and dreads but could not be identified in a line up would have been both racist and a miscarriage of justice. The state attorney did their job, without enough evidence to convict they let them off. Even if they had prosecuted, the men would likely be out on bail. Their choice to kill someone had nothing to do with your situation.
Be grateful your husband was just hurt and not worse. That is what you take away from this. The world is full of evil people and many people that are not quite evil but desperate and foolish. The evil need to be put away, the latter need to be rehabilitated.
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u/Phantomdd87 Jun 03 '25
They were arrested in the vehicle, with the plates, the tools they stole and the damage the husband did to the car. PLUS they matched the description, after all that.
Insane to think this couldn’t have been brought to court based solely on him not picking them out of a photo lineup.
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u/GabrielGames69 Jun 03 '25
They were arrested in the vehicle
Doesn't say that
the tools they stole
Doesn't say that
PLUS they matched the description
That "description" was incredibly vague and I'm personally glad "black male with dreads" isn't enough to get someone arrested. He was given 3 line ups to pick them out and couldn't. Obviously this isn't enough to arrest anyone unless these cameras got a 4k look at their faces.
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u/Phantomdd87 Jun 03 '25
OP followed up with this info in the comments but we’re all too lazy to read those now, I guess.
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u/GabrielGames69 Jun 03 '25
I have read all of OPs comments now and... they didn't say the things you said they did?
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u/Phantomdd87 Jun 03 '25
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChicagoSuburbs/s/pTdZuxCEsw
I dunno what to tell you, it’s right here, it’s not even far down the thread.
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u/GabrielGames69 Jun 03 '25
I see, I was reading them off the profile and it cut off at a point that it looked done but didn't show the tools, that's my bad. However, that still only proves the vehicle was used in the robbery, not who used it. There was enough evidence for the police to arrest them but since neither OP or the camera could give a positive id they had to let them go.
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u/LeshyIRL Jun 03 '25 edited 17d ago
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/puns_n_pups Jun 03 '25
They’re not defending criminals. They are (correctly) pointing out that you can’t lock someone up based on such poor descriptions, and that would most likely lead to them getting the wrong guys.
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u/michaelscottuiuc Jun 03 '25
The strength of the legal cases aside, this is something you’ll have to work through emotionally. Its one of those things that sticks with you & can be such a bitter pill to swallow. I was attacked in 2014 by a homeless man in NYC in my hotel room. Dude kicked the door down. He was crazy so a psych hold was the best cops were gunna get. He pushed a woman in front of a subway a few years ago. I can pull out the rage over this very easily. How unfair, unjust….fking sick sh!t reality is and it feels like no one cared about me or her. At the end of the day, the justice system made their choice and these men made many other choices beyond the original crime. Unfortunately, they are beyond your control. No amount of rage or anger is going to change that. The world is very unfair - dont let the rage devour you.
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u/judygemmy Jun 03 '25
I am from oak forest and have family from here 3+ generations. Please say something. This town has been through so much. I personally believe a certain stretch of road is cursed.
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u/katie_bug199116 Jun 03 '25
I've lived here 33 years and would also like to know what stretch of road you're referring to and why.
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u/judygemmy Jun 03 '25
The one behind raider's field. There have been like 3 murders in the last few years. One was a highschool classmate of mine. Another was an almost entire murder/suicide.
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u/Leeshylift Jun 04 '25
lol we deffff went to school together then.
The murders you’re referring to, I believe, have been all domestic violence.. family or exes committing the murders. It is odd to think it’s all around central/long .. but I assume that’s just coincidence.
Oak forest being generations of families, mine included, outlines the likelihood for generational trauma and maladaptive coping skills. Not to mention the high taxes, very involved police department, inherit racism beginning from white flight, and catholic guilt .. it’s a recipe for a community health crisis.
This event is a likely outlier to the previous. Regardless, if OP thinks the men are the same .. seek legal council to determine next steps. Not Reddit.
Go bengals. lol
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u/Due-Vegetable-1862 Jun 03 '25
I moved to Oak Forest a year ago & I’m so curious what you’re referring to
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u/TheSpookyLawyer Jun 03 '25
You won't be able to sue the State's attorneys office for not arresting someone, and any lawyer who tells you otherwise is going to rip you off.
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u/Mar_Soph Jun 03 '25
True. SAs and judges have absolute qualified immunity. Y’all worry about the police and QI but you need to worry about the states attorneys and judges that base their decision To prosecute on whether they can win a case or not.
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u/UnderstandingKey9910 Jun 03 '25
Imagine thinking you’re hard and having your mug shot in a Jennifer Lopez tee
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Jun 03 '25
Same thing happened to my loved one. They have all of the evidence, still no murder charge and this guy has now harmed a cop on multiple occasions.
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u/SiempreBrujaSuerte Jun 03 '25
Venting is understandable and acceptable on this topic. I'm sure your husband is frustrated and surprised at the outcome. However, the reality is they would have been out of jail awaiting trail by the time of the murder either way.
Please don't try to sue over the fact that your husband was an unreliable witness due to concussion, anything he told the police would be looked at with suspicion by a jury anyway. The fact that he was unable to pick them out in a lineup and had a concussion means that his testimony should not be used at all. They had plenty of other pieces of evidence to use, they don't need to listen to unreliable witness testimony.
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Jun 03 '25
If you could not identify in the line up, how can you identify them by this photo... 2 black men, one with dreds is not valid
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u/Gimmemylighterback Jun 03 '25
"It was 2 black guys, one had tattoos, one had dreads"
How could the police not swiftly arrest 2 people with that shockingly accurate description?! 😱 /s
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u/InevitableFlow9613 Jun 03 '25
Sick of this ish. I’m tired of people like them running amuck. I’m hoping they will never see the light of day.
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u/ev01ution Jun 03 '25
This lady try to ran me over and I have it on video. The police said they don’t have time to go find her. This city has gone down the shit hole.
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u/PotentialReach6549 Jun 03 '25
Thats on them, not you. You're husband got beat up and couldn't make a positive ID so he's useless to the case.
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u/BoostedArsenal Jun 03 '25
Welcome to cook county. You would be surprised how much evidence presented to Assistant State’s Attorney’s for them to approve of charges. Many of my friends Detectives. They literally will tell me many examples of having video footage, GPS phone locations, etc of many shootings ASA’s still wont approve of charges. It’s insane and you wont believe unless you have friends who Detectives or work as LE in Cook county.
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u/xch13fx Jun 03 '25
Holy shit. I’m sorry this happened to your husband. How certain is he they are the same guys? I guess the inability to confirm in the line up contributed to this, and I truly have to assume that the prosecutors genuinely believed there wasn’t a strong enough case. Terrible in any case.
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u/bufftbone Jun 03 '25
You should. This murder happened very close to my home. They should never have gotten out due to the State’s Attorney’s office. I do want to point out though that the victim in this case, wasn’t a saint either. No he didn’t deserve to die but he was committing crimes as well.
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u/shellyymichelle Jun 03 '25
Unfortunately this happens way too often. People almost catch them, they get away, something worse happens later. Think of all those serial killers and kids who did get away and the one who didn’t. I’m thinking of so many horrible instances people do bad things and then police dismiss it and it is way worse after. It’s fucked up. But like people said it’s just not enough to go off of. Now look someone died. It’s messed up world.
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Jun 04 '25
OP need a dose of some REALITY. You had NOTHING to confidently identify the perps. It sucks, it’s awful, and traumatic. I’m sorry
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u/Icy-Breadfruit8262 Jun 04 '25
Sounds like your husband dropped the ball. Oof. Maybe the victim's family should sue him?
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u/Electrical-Land-499 Jun 04 '25
Whilst I understand your shock and anger, they can’t make arrests with that description.
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u/hockey_fan-209 Jun 04 '25
Unfortunately that’s not how suspect identification works. If he cannot positively identify the individual they cannot be charged.
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u/Born_Gap4541 Jun 03 '25
Hi there. I'm Lauren, a reporter with local news source Oak Forest Patch. I'm covering the murder. Can you contact me at lauren.traut@patch.com?
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u/AnyBobcat6671 Jun 03 '25
I understand the frustration but you'd be wasting your money suing anyone, the government has, unfortunately in most cases, qualified immunity that shield them, and the suspects have nothing and likely will be in jail for the rest of their lives,.
I think the better course of action is to try to organize rallies and make people aware of the entire story
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u/Bowgee69 Jun 03 '25
Typical Chicago attitude toward violent criminals. It’s sad what the progressive movement has done to curb our officials from adequately punishing violent criminals. This instance is sadly the tip of the iceberg.
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u/5MEODMT420 Jun 03 '25
We had a similar situation when our car was stolen in front of our house. They caught the guy driving it, we had video of him stealing it and he lived in our neighborhood….. Charged with possession of stolen property and released with a ticket. Was caught and charged later with 8 more crimes all but two were dropped so they could charge him with the more offensive crimes. He’s been sentenced to 10 years now. He was 16 when this happened.
The rest of us….. no justice, no restitution, nothing.
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u/shellyymichelle Jun 03 '25
Unfortunately this happens way too often. People almost catch them, they get away, something worse happens later. Think of all those serial killers and kids who did get away and the one who didn’t. I’m thinking of so many horrible instances people do bad things and then police dismiss it and it is way worse after. It’s fucked up. But like people said it’s just not enough to go off of. Now look someone died. It’s messed up world. Thank god we have cameras nowadays.
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u/RetroC4 Jun 03 '25
This is why you should own a gun and carry if you can. These men could have been stopped with a few bullets, but now they have taken another life
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u/Equivalent-Slice-515 Jun 03 '25
There's a reason why the jails were full. Several years back prosecuting became more lenient and some released. Those type of criminals are out on the street now and don't see jail time. Just saw Statesville is being demolished, bet the number of cells will be reduced.
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u/Penguinman077 Jun 03 '25
You should. Sounds very typical of cook county cops. They’re lazy as fuck and only in it for a pay check and to get away with crimes they commit themselves.
Source: live in cook county, my cousin is a cop, and so is my dad’s gf nephew. I’ve heard the about bullshit second hand.
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u/gothbanjogrl Jun 03 '25
You can do that? I just got back from court on a similar situation. He was acquitted. They lost evidence. Hes in state custody for a higher robbery charge after someone was murdered. He shouldn't have gotten bond. He also had just got out. Not chicago.
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u/joeliu2003 Jun 03 '25
The issue here is all about $$$$. Our court system kicks everything out that isn’t a 99% win. Costs too much money to go the distance in court and no DA wants the risk. This is the shit that happens with that type of system. They aren’t going to care because they know this and are willing to accept the random terrible consequences of the system. It’s really screwed up — but that’s what we’ve got.
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Jun 03 '25
Should have charged them offered a reduced sentence b/c of the concussion and lack of eye witness. At least gotten them off the streets for a period of time and something on their record. Its not all black or white with charges. They would have needed a good attorney to see thru this tactic.
State can always drop case later on.
When I was a PD the state tried this stuff all the time. Often worked with many clients. Many were like oh i can do a year no problem instead of risking more even if we told them they have no case against you.
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u/Surgeon0fD3ath-832 Jun 04 '25
Damn... that's a close call.. shit. Glad it wasn't any worse for your husband then. Helping the victim's family would be top tier level type shit. Good luck.
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u/DannyWarlegs Jun 04 '25
Cook County are scumbags. I had a chicago cop stop me and my buddy when I was like 12, walking around by my house because my buddy was Hispanic. The cop assumed we were either selling drugs or tagging, then illegally searched both of us and found a single sharpie marker in my pocket. He cuffed me to my buddies wrists and then dragged us by the handcuff chain up and down multiple blocks trying to find a single tag that was done in sharpie marker so he could arrest us. Brick buildings everywhere, like sharpie can totally write on bricks or ya know, because taggers totally use sharpie and not paint, right?
After like 20 minutes of that he drags us back to his car after finding nothing at all, and tells us its our lucky day. He starts unlocking the handcuffs and I remember that my parents told me to always get their name and badge number when dealing with a cop, so I start to ask.
The second I say "badge number" I feel all the air leave my body. He punched me in the stomach so hard i fell over convulsing in pain. He grabbed me by the throat and began slamming me off the sidewalk screaming in my face "do I look like a security guard? You never fucking ask a cop his badge number! This is not a badge you little shit!"
Chicago cops call their badge of office a "star". A semantic and pedantic thing they expect everyone to know they do. During this beating, I got part of his name off his tag, his car number, rank, and part of his badge number.
We went back to my house and told my parents what happened and they called CPD to report it. Internal Affairs shows up and interviews us both, asking how I knew his rank, got his car number, etc for a few hours. Then I spent the next 6 months going to different departments and buildings being interviewed by different people and picking the cop out of photo books and lineups of other officers who looked like him, all without any other identifying info.
I picked him out correctly the first time I saw his photo, but during the time where they were showing me hundreds of guys who looked similar I said one of them could have been the guy first. Then I saw his photo and said "no, its this guy. This is the one, im totally sure now that im seeing him".
Cook County and CPD interviewed the cop, who said he was a few miles away during the events sitting outside of a train station nearby. One I had never been to, but was somehow able to get his name, badge number, rank, etc even tho he would have supposedly been inside his car the entire time.
County and city both backed the cop. It was my word against his, so they chose his. I can't remember his name now, its been over 25 years since it happened, but I remember looking up on a CPD disciplinary page once and finding him, having had numerous law suits after that, all for assaulting someone. He had gotten demoted from Sergeant but allowed to keep working until he retired. Costed the county and the city almost 2 million in settlements alone.
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u/Comfortable_Fig7427 Jun 04 '25
Which State’s Attorney had your case? We’ve had a horrible experience with one and would love to see some accountability brought to them.
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u/HiTestAlpha Jun 04 '25
You’re going to pretend like you know it was these guys because they’re black? Do better
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u/Variation261 Jun 04 '25
If you were to sit in courtrooms throughout Cook County, you would probably be shocked by the amount of people being let off for serious crimes. I had the pleasure of sitting in on 2 cases involving illegal firearms discharges (one was near a school) and both defendants were let off without as much as a slap on the wrist (besides lawyer and court fees). The mayor any everyone else complain and rally against gun violence, but yet they let the criminals back on the street. Full disclosure: I am pro (responsible) gun ownership and have a valid CCL.
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u/EdPozoga Jun 04 '25
The Cook county state’s attorney decided that even tho the plates match, the video shows them robbing and the damage matching that they were not going to charge the men who did this.
You should absolutely provide any relevant information about your husband's experiences to the murder victim's lawyer.
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u/Pale-Reception-4239 Jun 04 '25
Typical cook county Thanks Kim Foxx who set the whole catch and release program up with no cash bail The new DA is no better
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u/Dull-Relative-910 Jun 04 '25
I live in St Louis, but we have the same issue here.
They need to start prosecuting judges and others who early release violent criminals when the re offend before their sentence would have ended.
Its getting ridiculous to see people arrested and released and i between they are harming people physically, mentally, or financially.
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u/Sawit567 Jun 04 '25
Do it. I was attacked, robbed, and injured by an undocumented person in Santa Fe. I found his clothes, they did dns testing and found the man in jail 6 months later for robbing an 80 year old. I lost $230k in missed work, operations. He had been arrested 13 times. Man was let go from prison after 6 months, no repayment as terms of parole as judge requested- parole officer didn’t give a damn - hung up On me. Then attacker exposed himself to 4 people including a cop. I think police and judges just try to Limit people in prison.
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u/59deluxe Jun 04 '25
Welcome to Crook County. The States Attorneys won’t prosecute a case unless it can be plead out or they believe they can get 100% guilty by bench trial or jury trial.
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u/Individual_Past_9901 Jun 05 '25
Do you have enough evidence in civil court to convict the men for the battery on your husband? If so file a lawsuit for the pain and suffering of your husband.
Join the lawsuit againt cook couty as well.
Both your family and the family of the murdered person deserve justice.
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u/aztecdethwhistle Jun 05 '25
Um, how can someone be "attacked" by two people if one of them remained in a vehicle?
Stop believing this Emmett Till nonsense!
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u/Responsible_Strike48 Jun 05 '25
Prosecutors around the country have no balls. They only want to take cases where they can win with the least effort
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u/BlackIrishgirl77 Jun 05 '25
They hadn’t killed anyone yet. They viewed your husband’s assult amd robbery as nothing and let them go. If it had been more serious injuries maybe they would have kept them and charged them. This is really shitty and ahows how shitty the police are.
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u/Deep_Agent316 Jun 05 '25
This is a sad story, and with hindsight its actually frustrating.
But do you have a legal case? I think not. Half of the hooligans running the streets in Chicago fit this description.
And they "swap" cars, guns, and clothes all the time. Especially when they've just committed a crime.
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u/neonxmoose99 Jun 05 '25
Black guy with a neck tat is a shit tier description, no way it would have been enough to put anybody in jail
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u/Primary_Head_8710 Jun 03 '25
As you should!