Alprentiss Nash | Homicide Watch Chicago

Man gets two years for fatal shooting of Alprentiss Nash, who police say was trying to rob him on Near West Side

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 11:29:04 -0600

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Paul Vukadinovic | Chicago Police

A northwest man was sentenced to two years in prison last week for fatally shooting Alprentiss Nash, who tried to rob him last summer on the Near West Side.

Paul Vukadinovic, 30, pleaded guilty to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison by Judge Catherine Haberkorn, according to Cook County court records.

Vukadinovic shot the 40-year-old Nash in the chest at 2:20 p.m. July 28 in the 400 block of South Paulina, authorities said.

Nash tried to rob Vukadinovic, “with whom he had a long drug history,” police said at the time. Both men were armed and they exchanged gunfire.

Nash, of the 100 block of North LaPorte Avenue, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Alprentiss Nash | Illinois Department of Corrections

Nash was exonerated of a murder charge in 2012 after serving 17 years in prison. He was convicted of the murder and robbery of a Chicago man on the South Side in 1995, the Sun-Times previously reported. He was incarcerated from 1995 until 2012, when Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez vacated his conviction when new DNA evidence exonerated him.

Vukadinovic was also convicted of a separate drug charge and was sentenced to one year in prison, which will be served consecutively to the sentence for the weapon charge. He will receive credit for 133 days served in the Cook County jail.

Police claim murder exoneree Alprentiss Nash was killed while trying to rob a man on Near West Side

Jeff Mayes — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 09:21:24 -0500

By MITCHELL ARMENTROUT
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Alprentiss Nash | llinois Department of Corrections

Chicago Police claim Alprentiss Nash, exonerated of a murder charge in 2012 after serving 17 years in prison, was fatally shot by someone he was trying to rob Tuesday afternoon on the Near West Side.

Nash, 40, was shot in the chest in the 400 block of South Paulina at 2:20 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Nash tried to rob 30-year-old Mount Prospect resident Paul Vukadinovic, “with whom he had a long drug history,” according to a police statement released Thursday.

Both men were armed and they exchanged gunfire. Nash, of the 100 block of North LaPorte Avenue, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.

The shooting is “being explored as a possible self-defense case,” police said.

Paul Vukadinovic | Chicago Police

Vukadinovic has been charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and carrying a loaded gun without a concealed carry permit. His bond was set at $100,000 Friday, and he is due in court again Monday.

Katherine Zellner, an attorney who represented Nash in a wrongful conviction lawsuit, said in a statement: “Our client, Alprentiss Nash was murdered in Chicago yesterday during a failed robbery attempt.”

Nash was convicted of the murder and robbery of a Chicago man on the South Side in 1995, the Sun-Times previously reported. He was incarcerated from April 30, 1995, to Aug. 30, 2012, after Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez vacated his conviction when new DNA evidence exonerated him.

Zellner said the civil suit will continue because Nash has a son.

Cleared of murder after 17 years in prison, Alprentiss Nash fatally shot on Near West Side

Jeff Mayes — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 14:51:07 -0500

By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Alprentiss Nash | llinois Department of Corrections

Alprentiss Nash, who was exonerated of a murder charge in 2012 after serving 17 years in prison, was fatally shot Tuesday afternoon on the Near West Side.

Nash, 40, was shot in the chest in the 400 block of South Paulina at 2:20 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Nash was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.

Police said a person of interest was being questioned.

Nash was convicted of the murder and robbery of a Chicago man on the South Side in 1995, the Sun-Times previously reported. He was incarcerated from April 30, 1995, to Aug. 30, 2012, when Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez vacated his conviction.

Alprentiss Nash | Facebook

Two years later, on March 14, 2014, Nash filed a nine-count federal lawsuit against Chicago Police for violating his civil rights through wrongful imprisonment.

On April 30, 1995, about 1:45 p.m., three masked men entered the home of Leon Stroud, a known bootlegger, in the 11000 block of Wentworth Avenue and robbed him, according to the suit. One of the masked men fatally shot Stroud in the chest.

One of the robber's masks was left at the scene, but it was never tested for DNA, fingerprints or other forensic evidence, the lawsuit alleges.

Nash, who was a drug dealer at the time, claims in the suit he had an airtight alibi—he was selling drugs between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., and two different people confirmed he was shopping for clothes between 1-4 p.m.

But a man arrested for the crime, who owed Nash $350, was bullied into identifying Nash as the killer, according to the lawsuit. A Chicago Police officer allegedly told the man he would not be charged and would not go to jail if he named Nash as the shooter.

Seeing an opportunity to quickly resolve a case involving the death of a bootlegger in a poor neighborhood by Nash, a drug dealer from the neighborhood, defendants conspired to frame Nash," the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit alleges that, although people confirmed Nash was at a clothing store at the time of Stroud's murder, officers coerced witnesses to identify him out of a lineup.

No physical evidence connected Nash to the crime in any way, but he was sentenced to 80 years in prison, the suit claims.

In 2012, DNA testing on the mask found at the scene exonerated Nash, and Alvarez overturned the conviction.

The lawsuit had not been resolved at the time of Nash's death, according to court records.