By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
In what was supposed to be a retaliatory strike against a romantic rival, a convicted felon accidentally shot Jason Jernigan in 2013, but after admitting the crime to a witness, he is now charged with the cold-case murder.
On Tuesday, Dwayne Anderson, 32, was charged with the murder of Jernigan, 27, after being arrested at Hill Correctional Center in downstate Galesburg, where he is serving a two-year sentence for drug and firearm convictions, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
In the fall of 2013, Anderson was involved in a dispute with a friend of Jernigan “over the affections of a woman,” a statement from prosecutors said.
Dwayne Anderson | Illinois Dept. of Corrections
In September of that year, the two got into at least two fights, the second ending in gunfire that “caused Anderson to collide with a parked car and injure his shoulder while trying to escape,” prosecutors said.
In seeking retaliation, Anderson tried to “ambush” his rival on the night of Nov. 2 in the 3300 block of West Van Buren in Garfield Park.
“According to witnesses, Anderson emerged from a vacant lot and started shooting at the man he believed to be responsible for his earlier injury. While the intended target hid behind an SUV, Jernigan, who had been attempting to flee, was struck multiple times at close range,” prosecutors said.
Jernigan was found in a vacant lot with gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said at the time. Jernigan, of the 3400 block of West Adams, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A female witness flagged down a passing police squad car, but Anderson had already jumped into a waiting vehicle and fled, prosecutors said.
The case remained cold until December 2014 when prosecutors got a break.
“A witness revealed conversations he had with Anderson in which Anderson implicated himself … and acknowledged that he killed Jernigan during a retaliatory strike,” prosecutors said. He also “expressed confidence that he would not be identified as the shooter because he was not known in the area…”
In court on Wednesday, Judge James Brown set bond at $1 million and set a preliminary hearing for July 23.