By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times
When Naomi Freeman tried to run over her abusive boyfriend John Perry with her white minivan the first time, she missed, prosecutors allege.
Naomi Freeman | Chicago Police
So Perry, standing on the sidewalk, taunted her to try again.
Freeman, 23, took him up on the challenge, hitting the gas pedal and striking Perry as she drove onto the sidewalk, through a fence and into a yard in a West Side neighborhood, authorities said.
Her attorney, Steven Pick, said Freeman, charged with murder, had no choice after Perry punched her more than 25 times, dragging her out of her van by her hair.
The mother of two was in “fear for her life and safety,” Pick told Cook County Judge Laura Sullivan Friday.
But Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Karr disagreed, arguing Freeman could have simply driven away.
Freeman took matters into her own hands after her boyfriend beat her so bad during a fight over the Fourth of July weekend, he had to be pulled away from her by a bystander, Cook County prosecutors said.
Freeman, 23, pulled out of her parking spot early Sunday morning, did a U-turn and allegedly barreled onto the sidewalk as Perry jumped out of the way in the 1100 block of South Francisco.
She crashed her Dodge Caravan into a wrought iron fence but then reversed into the street, Karr said.
That’s when Perry stood on the sidewalk in front of van and allegedly taunted Freeman to try to run him over again.
The incident was captured on surveillance cameras, Karr said.
Freeman eventually got out of the van and ran away, as her boyfriend remained trapped under the van.
It took police and firefighters at the scene to extricate him, Karr said.
Perry later died of mechanical asphyxia at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Freeman admitted to her mother what she had done, Karr said. Her lawyer urged the judge to set a low bond, arguing his client had no intention of killing Perry.
Freeman was a longtime victim of domestic violence at the hands of Perry, a convicted felon who was recently paroled, Pick said.
Still, the judge ordered Freeman, of the 2800 block of West Polk, held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Pick asked the judge if she would consider reducing Freeman’s bail.
“That’s possibly the lowest bond I’ve issued on a first-degree murder charge,” the judge said.
Perry had numerous arrests for mostly drug-related incidents, court records show. In October 2014, he was sentenced to three years in prison for a narcotics-related case.