Homicide Watch Chicago

By JORDAN OWEN and MITCHELL ARMENTROUT
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Breanna Patterson and her armed boyfriend, Charles Smith, broke into a West Englewood home early Sunday trying to get information about a robbery, according to Cook County prosecutors. Minutes later, Smith was shot dead by Chicago Police, and now, Patterson is charged with his murder.

Patterson, 20, is being held on a $1 million bond after being charged with first-degree murder and home invasion with discharge of a firearm, according to police.

Patterson and the 29-year-old Charles Smith knocked on the door of the home in the 7300 block of South Paulina about 4 a.m. Sunday because they thought someone in the home knew who had robbed them about three weeks earlier, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. Smith was armed with a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun.

A 22-year-old woman answered the door and Patterson began screaming at her, telling her she had been robbed and she knew the woman knew something about it, prosecutors said. The woman tried to tell Smith and Patterson that she didn’t know what they were talking about, but Patterson became more agitated.

She pushed Smith to the side to try and enter the home, and Smith fell backwards, prosecutors said. When he fell, the woman who had answered the door saw that he had a gun, and she and others in the home pushed the door closed and locked it.

Patterson and Smith kicked the locked door several times, broke it down and went inside, prosecutors said.

Seven people—six adults and a 5-year-old—were inside, prosecutors said. None of them knew Patterson or Smith.

One of the residents called 911 as Patterson began trashing the home, breaking windows and knocking over televisions, prosecutors said. Smith pointed the gun at people and demanded they tell him who had robbed him. They begged Smith not to shoot and again said they didn’t know what he was talking about.

When Smith and Patterson were distracted, one of the women ran to a bedroom where her child was and called 911, while another woman hid in a closet, prosecutors said. Smith and Patterson found the woman in the closet and forced her out at gunpoint. Patterson watched her while Smith checked the basement.

Other people inside also called 911, and officers responded, found the door broken and went inside, prosecutors said. When Smith and Patterson heard the door open, Smith, armed with the gun, went towards the door. He fired multiple rounds and the officers fired back.

Smith was shot in the abdomen and pronounced dead at the scene at 5:40 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 2100 block of West 77th Street.

Smith’s gun was recovered at the scene and Patterson was arrested, prosecutors said. She admitted they went to the house because they thought the residents had information about the robbery; and that she helped kick in the door. She also said she saw Smith fire shots at police.

Patterson, of the 7200 block of South Wolcott, was ordered held on a $1 million Monday, according to police and the Cook County sheriff’s office. She is next due in court Feb. 22.

Independent Police Review Authority spokesman Larry Merritt confirmed the agency is investigating the shooting.

Bulls star Derrick Rose previously lived at the home where the shooting happened.

Contacted by the Chicago Sun-Times about the shooting at his former home, Rose said: “What? What house? I only have a condo.’’

When it was cleared up, he said, “No, I haven’t heard about that.’’