A man charged with murder in the 2007 slaying of a woman in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood and the sexual assaults of two other women in 2002 and 2010 was linked to the attacks after a 2012 shoplifting arrest, according to prosecutors.
Antonio Smith 35, is charged with murder and aggravated criminal sexual assault in the attack Jan. 11, 2007, in the 4200 block of South Indiana Avenue, that led to Shirley Regina Morgan, 47, dying 10 months later, according to authorities.
Smith was ordered held without bail in a hearing Friday before Cook County Judge Donald Panarese Jr., who called Smith “an extreme danger to the community” before denying bail.
Morgan was found partially clothed and unconscious near a carport in the 4200 block of South Prairie Avenue on Jan. 11, 2007, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Anna Planey. Morgan suffered multiple cuts to her head, including four to her forehead and above her eyes, loose teeth and bruises and scrapes on her face, according to prosecutors.
Morgan was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she remained in critical condition and unconscious for about two months, prosecutors said. A sexual assault kit included DNA evidence collected from her.
She died Oct. 27, 2007, and her death was ruled a homicide from blunt force head injuries that caused her brain to be deprived of oxygen, killing her, according to prosecutors and Cook County medical examiner’s office records.
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Smith also is charged in two other sexual assaults in which he assaulted victims and hit them in the head, according to police and prosecutors.
In the first attack, a 33-year-old woman was walking in the 4600 block of South Prairie about 8:50 p.m. on Feb. 8, 2002, when Smith went up to her and they had a brief conversation, according to prosecutors and police records. Smith then took the woman into a vacant lot, where he hit her in the head with his fist, sending her to the ground, prosecutors said. Smith sexually assaulted the woman, and while he was doing so, she saw him reach for a large brick. He then knocked her unconscious and took her coat, keys and money before runing off.
The woman called police and was taken to Provident Hospital of Cook County, where a sexual assault kit was used to collect evidence, prosecutors said.
The last attack took place after Smith picked up the woman on the street while he was driving near 80th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue on Aug. 14, 2010, prosecutors said. Smith drove up to the woman and asked if she wanted to get a drink, and she got in. They drove around for a bit before he pulled into a parking about 4:30 a.m., according to prosecutors and records.
Smith began beating the woman with his fists, then sexually assaulted her, while hitting and choking her until she passed out, prosecutors said. Residents of the area found her, unconscious and with some of her clothes off, in the 1000 block of East 80th Street about 5:30 a.m., prosecutors said.
The woman was taken to Jackson Park Hospital, where she was treated for numerous head injuries, including damage to her eyes, and a sexual assault kit was collected, prosecutors said.
Smith was arrested March 24, 2012, in a retail theft about 3 p.m. at department store in the 8300 block of South Stewart Avenue, according to records. A Wal-Mart is listed at the address. He was convicted May 22, 2012, and given 12 months probation. His DNA profile was submitted to the Combined DNA Index System, CODIS, after the conviction, and in June 2012, the system matched his initial profile to the killing and two sex assaults, prosecutors said. In August 2012, he consented to the collection of further DNA samples, which confirmed his DNA matched that of the attacker in the three cases.
Why it took until 2017 to charge him in the cases was not revealed. Police worked with the state’s attorney’s Cold Case Unit to investigate the cases, prosecutors said.
Smith, of the 7000 block of South Indiana, was arrested about 5:20 p.m. Tuesday in the same block where he lives, according to the news release.
Smith is the father of Antonio Smith, 9, who was killed Aug. 20, 2014, according to sources. Smith’s defense attorney said in court that Smith is the single father of a 15-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son, and that his 9-year-old son had been killed, but did not give the boy’s name. Smith does odd jobs in his neighborhood to support himself and his family.
Antonio was killed in the 1200 block of East 73rd Street, a few blocks from his home, when he left home because he was angry at his mother for not giving him cake. Prosecutors and police say Antonio was shot by a gang member who was looking for rival gang members to shoot and happened upon him. Four men are charged in his killing.
Antonio was being raised by his mother and stepfather, not by Smith, at the time of his death.
The baiduhai’s Megan Crepeau contributed.