Tiara Williams never thought her fiance’s murder in a Hyde Park restaurant could become even more upsetting a year after his death.
Then she learned that Corey Ebenezer wasn’t killed in a random robbery as police first suspected. He actually was the victim of a plot hatched by an employee whom he had fired just a day earlier. “The circumstances make me more upset, that he had to die a painful death over a job,” Williams said. “He had to lose his life over something like that.”
On Wednesday, Cook County Circuit Judge Maura Slattery Boyle set bail at $1 million for Erika Ray, the former Leona’s restaurant employee who wanted retribution for her firing, prosecutors said. She was charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery.
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The judge denied bail for Lorenzo Wilson, who allegedly shot Ebenezer in the head and chest. He was charged with first-degree murder and felony murder.
An Englewood boy, 14 at the time of the June 2006 slaying, was taken to Juvenile Court to face charges there. Now 15, he is a Sherman Elementary School 8th grader who was picked up by police Tuesday morning at summer school.
A fourth suspect has not been charged, authorities said.
When she was fired, Ray quarreled with Ebenezer, challenging his authority to dismiss her, Police Cmdr. Pat Walsh said Wednesday. When Ray called another supervisor, she was told to go home.
The next night, Ray went to the homes of friends and persuaded them to confront Ebenezer at the restaurant, Assistant State’s Atty. Adam Weber said in court. They took a gun with them to the restaurant, he said.
“[Ray] tells them the back door is usually open,” Weber said. “All four agreed to go.”
Ray, then 24, drove the group to the restaurant, at 1236 E. 53rd St., Weber said. She parked about a block away and waited in the vehicle.
The others went in through the back door and saw Ebenezer counting the evening’s receipts, Walsh said.
Wilson, then 18, pulled the gun on Ebenezer and pointed it at his head, Weber said. They struggled, and Wilson shot Ebenezer, he said.
As they fought, the unidentified man who has not been charged stole $1,700 from the cash drawer, Weber said.
After the struggle, Wilson shot Ebenezer a second time before leaving, Weber said.
A bystander witnessed the robbery and slaying, Weber said. That witness identified all four suspects and told authorities the roles each played, he said.
Wilson, who fled to Mississippi and then Florida, confessed to the shooting as he drove south with a friend, Weber said. Along the way, Wilson dismantled the gun but left its clip and handle behind in the vehicle. Wilson’s confidant turned the evidence over to police.
The juvenile confessed to a different person and to police, authorities said. He was charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery. Prosecutors originally charged him as an adult, but on Wednesday the judgeordered that he be reprocessed as a juvenile.
Because a juvenile has been in charged in her fiance’s murder, Williams said she intends to explain to her own children that the world isn’t a safe place. Williams and Ebenezer had two daughters, ages 4 and 1, she said.
“The 15-year-old, he just looks like a baby,” said Williams, 26.
Williams said she had feared the case would go cold and police might not find any of the killers. “It put a smile on my face, a true, genuine smile,” she said.
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