Lamont Jackson / Photo from Chicago Police
BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor
Lamont Jackson was ordered held on $1 million bond Thursday after prosecutors claim he was part of a group that beat Leroy Griffin then shot him dead in the Chatham community.
On Dec. 21, 2013, Griffin was walking with an acquaintance to a gas station near 79th and State streets when a green vehicle stopped nearby, said Assistant State’s Attorney Beth Novy.
Jackson and six others exited the vehicle and approached Griffin and his acquaintance because they believed the pair were members of a rival gang responsible for killing a friend, Novy said.
The group beat Griffin while a gunman chased his acquaintance, who escaped by hiding in a gangway, Novy said.
The gunman then returned to where the group was beating Griffin and shot him once in the head, Novy said.
Griffin, 18, of the 7500 block of South Langley Avenue, was declared dead a short time later at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
After the shooting, the group got back in the green vehicle and fled the scene, Novy said.
Jackson, 24, was arrested this week and admitted to being part of the beating, Novy said. Video footage also allegedly shows him exiting the green vehicle prior to the attack.
Jackson was charged with first-degree murder and Judge James Brown ordered him held on $1 million bond during a Thursday court hearing.
Prosecutors noted that Jackson was previously convicted of battery in 2006 and unlawful use of a weapon in 2013.
The other attackers have not yet been charged for the killing.
— Contributing: Rummana Hussain