By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times
Brandon Collins | Chicago Police
Mecahel Holder and two women got some beer and watched Fourth of July fireworks in Humboldt Park.
At midnight, the trio sang “Happy Birthday” for one of the women in the group, who turned 27 on July 5.
Then the celebrations turned deadly when Holder started arguing with 31-year-old Brandon Collins, Cook County prosecutors said in court Thursday.
Collins and two others began shooting at Holder, 34, who was standing in the street in the 1100 block of North Ridgeway, Assistant State’s Attorney Elena Gottreich said.
Mecahel Holder | Facebook
Holder, of the 2100 block of West 50th Place, was shot in the head and torso around 1:30 a.m., authorities said. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:44 a.m., according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The gunmen then began shooting at the car where the two women were. Both were wounded, and when they tried to drive away, they crashed the car, Gottreich said.
Police eventually helped the women out of the car and they were taken to hospitals.
The woman who was celebrating her birthday remains at Stroger Hospital in a medically induced coma, Gottreich said.
The other woman, 32, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. She identified Collins as one of the shooters, prosecutors said.
She also identified Collins as the man holding a gun in a picture she took of Collins and Holder before the murder, Gottreich said.
Judge Donald Panarese Jr. ordered Collins, of the 8000 block of South Brandon Avenue, held on a $2 million bond.