A defendant arrested and charged with a Waukegan murder last month had been charged in 2011 with attempted murder for allegedly shooting a man twice in the face in North Chicago.
Undra Bailey, 30, who authorities described as homeless, was arrested by Waukegan police Oct. 24 and charged in the Oct. 22 shooting death of John Collins, 28, of North Chicago. Collins was fatally shot in an alley on South Jackson Street in Waukegan.
Bailey, who is charged with two counts of murder and is being held on $2.5 million bail in Lake County Jail, was released from prison in February 2015 in connection with a previous North Chicago shooting, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office and Illinois Department of Corrections records.
In the new case, Waukegan police said it is believed the shooting of Collins resulted from an argument between Bailey and Collins.
At about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, Waukegan patrol officers responded to the 800 block of South Jackson for a report of a shooting in the rear alley. On arrival, officers located Collins, who was transported to Vista Medical Center in Waukegan, where he was pronounced dead.
Waukegan Police Cmdr. Joe Florip said Bailey was arrested after he was located on foot in the area of routes 137 and 41 in North Chicago on Oct. 24 and was taken into custody without incident.
In the previous case, Bailey was charged on May 21, 2011, with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, according to Lake County Circuit Court records.
Cynthia Vargas, communications manager for the state’s attorney’s office, said the charges resulted from a May 20 argument in which Bailey allegedly shot a man twice in the face following an argument in North Chicago.
Vargas said that after the victim recovered, he said he couldn’t remember the shooting and that he would not testify at trial, and a plea deal was negotiated in which Bailey pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and was sentenced to 8 years in prison, which under statute for that charge was served at 50 percent.
Bailey also received credit toward his prison term for 788 days spent in Lake County jail after his arrest, leading to his release on parole from prison on Feb. 10, 2015.
Bailey is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Nov. 17 in Lake County Circuit Court on the new murder charges.
Collins was one of two homicide victims in Waukegan on the weekend of Oct. 22-23. On that Saturday evening, police responded to a report of shots fired on the 1500 block of 11th Street. While en route, Florip said, another call came in that a victim was shot and lying in the street. The victim, identified as Michael Q. Sierra, 23, of Beach Park, was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead.
Investigators believe the shooter knew the victim, and the shooting was not random, according Florip, who said it appeared to be an encounter that “escalated to the shooting.”
Florip said Wednesday that police are still seeking a man who is considered a “possible suspect.” The man is described as black in his late teens or early twenties who was sporting a short dreadlock hairstyle and was last seen wearing a dark-colored winter coat.
Anyone with information about this homicide is asked by Waukegan police to call the department’s Tip Line at 847-360-9001.
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