Martez Staples | Homicide Watch Chicagohttp://homicides.suntimes.com/suspects/martez-staples/Latest news about Martez Staplesen-usFri, 22 May 2015 16:47:40 -0500Martez Staples charged with murder in North Lawndale shooting death of Willie Bushhttp://homicides.suntimes.com/2015/05/22/martez-staples-charged-with-murder-in-north-lawndale-shooting-death-of-willie-bush/<img src="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/chicago/files/2015/05/MartezStaples.jpg" alt="Martez Staples / Photo from Chicago Police" width="100%" height="auto" class="size-full wp-image-11300" /> <p>BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN<br /> Chicago Sun-Times</p> <p>A West Side man was ordered held on $1 million bond Friday for a shooting that claimed the life of a 49-year-old man and left two other people injured.</p> <p>Martez Staples shot the three people on Aug. 17, 2013, after asking a group sitting on a porch in the 1200 block of South Lawndale Avenue if they knew who beat up Staples' uncle in a nearby alley, prosecutors said.</p> <p>The group on the porch said they knew nothing about the beating, prompting someone in Staples' group to say, “f--- them,” Assistant State’s Attorney Jamie Santini said.</p> <p>Staples and two others then opened fire, Santini said.<br /> <span id="more-11299"></span><br /> <a href="http://homicides.suntimes.com/victims/willie-bush/">Willie Bush</a>, 49, was shot 13 and died three days later, Santini said.</p> <p>Another man was shot nine but survived. A teenager was also shot in his abdomen and survived, authorities said.</p> <p>Bush <a href="http://homicides.suntimes.com/2013/08/20/willie-bush-remembered-for-upbeat-personality/">worked as a contractor</a> boarding up and cleaning abandoned building, friend Cleveland Smith said.<img src="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/chicago/files/2015/05/WillieBush-300x226.jpg" alt="Willie Bush / Submitted photo" width="300" height="226" class="size-medium wp-image-11301" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Willie Bush / Submitted photo</p></p> <p>“I’ve never seen him, in the 20-something years that I knew him, without a smile or a laugh,” Smith said. “He was always happy.”</p> <p>During the investigation, detectives learned from one of the victims that Staples was one of the gunmen, Santini said.</p> <p>Staples, 26, of the 1200 block of South St. Louis Avenue, was arrested this week. He is a member of the Vice Lords street gang, according to a police report.</p> <p>Staples has previous convictions for armed robbery and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. </p> Michael LansuFri, 22 May 2015 16:47:40 -0500http://homicides.suntimes.com/2015/05/22/martez-staples-charged-with-murder-in-north-lawndale-shooting-death-of-willie-bush/Willie BushMartez Staples