Shannon Williams / Photo from Chicago Police
BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor
A traffic stop led police to the handgun Shannon Williams allegedly used to kill Trevolus Pickett during an April robbery in the Austin community, prosecutors said.
Pickett was with two friends in the 5200 block of West Congress Parkway when Williams approached with a loaded .38 caliber handgun and ordered the group into a gangway about 11:15 p.m. April 18, said Assistant State’s Attorney Jamie Santini.
Williams, 23, ordered the all three men to give him their money and threatened, “I will pop you,” Santini said.
All three men gave their money to Williams, who then shot Pickett in the neck and top of the head, Santini said. Williams and the other two robbery victims ran away after the shooting.
Pickett, 21, of the 8300 block of South Dorchester Avenue, died at Mount Sinai Hospital less than an hour later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
On April 24, Grand Crossing District officers responding to a call of shots fired saw Williams in a car attempting to flee the area, Santini said. Williams escaped, but officers recovered the .38 caliber handgun from the backseat.
The Illinois State Police crime lab determined that shell casings recovered at the scene where Pickett was murdered came from the gun recovered in the car a week later, Santini said.
Trevolus Pickett / Family photo
The other two robbery victims identified Williams in a photo array and an investigative alert was issued for his arrest, Santini said. Williams, of the 12200 block of South Harvard Street, was taken into custody May 30 and charged with first-degree murder, authorities said.
Williams appeared in court Monday wearing a white T-shirt, gray pants and white shoes. Judge Laura Sullivan ordered him held without bond and issued a next court date of June 20.
A public defender said Williams is a life-long Chicago resident who attended Dunbar Vocational Career Academy. He currently works in construction.