Nadia Ezaldein / Submitted photo
BY JON SEIDEL
Chicago Sun-Times
The University of Chicago student gunned down at a downtown department store on Black Friday complained to police in the past about the ex-boyfriend who fatally shot her Friday, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said.
McCarthy made his comment Monday when asked whether 22-year-old Nadia Ezaldein was afraid to report the abuse she suffered at the hands of 31-year-old Marcus Dee.
McCarthy confirmed Dee was the son of Chicago Police officers, but he said that didn’t stop the woman from going to the authorities.
“There was actually an incident the week before,” McCarthy said. “And we’re looking into the circumstances of that incident. So whoever’s saying that she was afraid to come forward, she did come forward. So that’s, that’s just fact.”
McCarthy did not elaborate on the incident he mentioned, nor would a Chicago Police spokesman. McCarthy said investigators are looking into the background of Dee, who he said had a valid FOID card “at one time.”
Meanwhile, court records show Ezaldein’s sister accused Dee in April of cracking Ezaldein’s ribs, stabbing her jacket and putting a gun in her mouth. Dee and Ezaldein’s sister traded those and other allegations last spring as each sought protective orders against the other. In both cases, a Cook County judge dismissed the petition the day it was filed.
Friday night, on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, Dee walked into the accessories department at the Nordstrom at Michigan and Grand avenues where Ezaldein worked, “exchanged words” with her and opened fire, authorities said. Dee shot Ezaldein in the head or neck, then turned the gun on himself and died inside the store.
It was Ezaldein’s birthday, her family said.
Scene where Nadia Ezaldein was fatally shot / Photo by Eric Clark
Dee sought a no-contact order April 7 against Ezaldein’s sister, who is from Florida. He claimed the sister threatened to come to Chicago and have him arrested. He also said she threatened to take out a restraining order against him “to get me kicked out of the Army.”
She threatened to have a family member kill him, he said.
Finally, he claimed she called and told him by voicemail he is “a dead motherf–—.”
Cook County Judge Cynthia Ramirez denied his petition.
Then, on April 8, Ezaldein’s sister petitioned for her own no-contact order against Dee. She accused him of dealing drugs and weapons, and she said he threatened to send private photos and videos to her father and brother.
She said he called her a whore, spit in her face, threatened to kill her and smashed Ezaldein’s phone.
The sister also claimed that, in March, Dee cracked Ezaldein’s ribs, broke her jaw, ripped her clothing, stabbed her jacket with a switch knife, ripped her boots, bruised her lip, threw her clothing out the window and put a gun in her mouth. Finally, she said he called in April and threatened to kill himself because she had gotten the cops involved.
Despite multiple attempts, Dee’s parents have not been reached for comment.
Ezaldein’s sister said Dee also sent her text messages claiming to be Ezaldein, even though Ezaldein was with her.
Cook County Judge Caroline Kate Moreland denied the sister’s petition.
Dee and Ezaldein’s sister each claimed in their petitions to have filed a police report.
Ezaldein’s sister, who asked that her name not be used, has previously said Ezaldein dated Dee from August 2012 until she broke up with him in December 2013. But she said Dee continued to abuse her sister after that.
Marcus Dee / Submitted photo
Another woman who sought an order of protection against Dee in 2007 told the Chicago Sun-Times she suffered similar abuse while dating Dee. The woman, who asked that her name not be used, said she dated Dee for three months that year. She said if she upset him or threatened to leave him “he would basically threaten your family or threaten your friends.”
That woman said she initially sought an order of protection against Dee after someone broke into her home and stole money after they broke up. She suspected Dee, but said she ultimately decided she didn’t want to provoke him further and chose not to pursue the order of protection.
Ezaldein had studied law at the University of Chicago while also working at Nordstrom to support herself, her family said. Police said she was a seasonal worker at the department store. The university confirmed Ezaldein had been at student at the school, but said she was not enrolled for the fall semester.
— Contributing: Tina Sfondeles and Becky Schlikerman