Louis Smith / Photo from Chicago Police
A second man has been charged with murder after authorities said he was part of a group that beat a man then shot him dead in the Chatham neighborhood.
On Dec. 21, 2013, Leroy 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.
Lamont Jackson, 24, Louis Smith, 25, and five 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 pronounced 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 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.
On Friday, police announced that Smith, of the 6700 block of South Lafayette Avenue, was also been charged with first-degree murder, murder while committing another forcible felony and mob action.
The other attackers have not yet been charged for the killing.
— Homicide Watch Chicago and Sun-Times Media Wire