The defense attorney who represented a Grayslake man fatally shot Sept. 2 during an altercation with a Round Lake police officer said Thursday he was shocked by the turn of events.
“I thought the kid had turned the corner,” defense attorney Gregory Nikitas said Thursday about 22-year-old Michael Robert Musson, who died from what the Lake County coroner’s office described as multiple gunshot wounds.
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The incident involving Musson began after police received 911 calls about someone banging on doors of North Macgillis Drive homes, according to authorities.
Musson appeared to have been breaking windows and lights and may have tried to force his way into at least one home in the Round Lake neighborhood before the shooting, according to Detective Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, which is investigating the incident.
Nikitas said he had represented Musson “since he was a juvenile” in previous cases that included another altercation with a police officer. According to Nikitas, Musson had landed a good job and recently obtained a commercial driver’s license.
“Everyone was shocked,” Nikitas said of Musson’s family, which he said was “devastated” by the shooting.
Nikitas added that he felt Musson had turned his life around and that he was taken aback by news of Musson’s death.
“It’s devastating to hear a thing like that, no matter what the circumstances. For a 22-year-old to be gone is shocking,” Nikitas said between cases at the Lake County Courthouse on Thursday morning.
Musson was nearing the end of a probationary sentence for a conviction on a felony charge of resisting a police officer when he died.
Donna Kelly, a neighbor who said she witnessed the shooting, said Musson tackled the female police officer first responding to the scene. After a struggle, the officer shot Musson, according to Kelly, and as he continued to advance on the officer, Kelly said, she “begged” him to stop and back off before shooting again.
While Chief Deputy Coroner Orlando Portillo said Musson died of multiple gunshot wounds, authorities have not said how many times Musson was shot or where his wounds were located.
Covelli said Thursday he had no new information to release and that investigators were still talking with witnesses and neighbors.
Musson was on probation due to an August 2013 incident in which he put a Lake County sheriff’s detective in a headlock during a drug investigation, according to sheriff’s reports and prosecutors.
Authorities said that when a sheriff’s officer attempted to arrest someone during the 2013 incident in unincorporated Grayslake, Musson put him in a headlock. While the officer was on the ground, three other people punched and kicked him, witnesses told deputies later during the investigation.
Three sheriff’s officials were transported to the hospital following that altercation, according to reports.
Musson was arrested and charged with felony aggravated battery to a peace officer, two counts of resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.
In a negotiated deal Oct. 2, 2014, Musson pleaded guilty to an enhanced felony charge of resisting a peace officer and received a sentence of 24 months of probation, according to Cynthia Vargas, communications manager for the state’s attorney’s office. The aggravated battery charges were dropped as part of the deal.
Musson’s sentence also included 16 days of time served in Lake County Jail, 60 days of work-release custody, a drug and alcohol evaluation, and random drug and alcohol testing during his probation period.
Musson also had prior ordinance violation arrests for speeding and other traffic offenses in Lake County and was charged with felony theft and possession of stolen property in October 2012, but those charges were dismissed after the case was joined with the battery and resisting case as part of the plea deal, according to officials.
According to Covelli, while Musson’s driver’s license said he was from the Grayslake area, he was living near the location of the Sept. 2 incident.
Covelli has previously confirmed that Musson appeared to have been breaking glass and lights and may have tried to force his way into at least one home. He said Musson was holding a piece of glass when confronted by the Round Lake officer, who was alone and the first to arrive in response to the 911 calls.
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