A man arrested on weapons charges days after two people chased down and fatally shot a man on the West Side in 2015 has been charged with murder in the killing, authorities said.
Courtney Bailey, 18, was ordered held without bail Wednesday in the May 31, 2015, killing of Byron Driver, 27, in the 100 block of North Cicero Avenue. Bailey, of the 4800 block of West Superior Street—three blocks from where Driver was killed—already was being held in Cook County Jail on charges of aggravated battery of a peace officer in an attack June 17 in the 4800 block of North Ravenswood Avenue, according to records.
Driver, of the 2800 block of West Polk Street in Lawndale, was killed as he walked on Cicero Avenue about 7:15 p.m. on May 31, 2015, officials have said. Bailey—who was 16 at the time of the killing—and several other people drove onto West End Avenue east of Cicero in a small SUV and jumped as Driver walked south toward West End, Cook County Assistant State’ Attorney Jamie Santini said.
Several witnesses saw Bailey, who was holding a gun, get out of the SUV, walk to Cicero and West End and head toward Driver as he walked on Cicero, prosecutors said.
Bailey and another man pointed their guns at Driver and started firing, and Driver tried to run away but was hit and fell to the street, prosecutors said. As he lay facedown on Cicero, Bailey and the other man shot him again at point-blank range.
Driver suffered gunshot wounds to the spine, both thighs and his back, prosecutors said. He was pronounced dead at 7:48 p.m. the same day at Stroger Hospital.
Bailey, the second shooter and the others ran back to the SUV and started to drive off, as an off-duty Chicago police officer who had witnessed the shooting tried to catch them, prosecutors said. A Toyota sedan blocked the officer’s pursuit of the SUV, but the officer was able to get the license plate number of the Toyota.
Detectives found out the Toyota was rented in Des Plaines by someone who is a member of the same Gangster Disciples gang faction which Bailey belongs to, prosecutors said.
June 2, 2015, police stopped the Toyota with Bailey and the man who rented the Toyota in the car, and found a .40-caliber Beretta with 8 live rounds in car, according to prosecutors.
Bailey, who has listed the 1800 block of West Touhy Avenue as a home address, was arrested along with the other man, Demetrius Reynolds, 26, in the 5200 block of North Broadway, according to records. Unlawful use of a weapon charges against Reynolds remain pending, and he is being held in Cook County Jail on $30,000 bail.
Illinois State Police tests determined that the shell casings from the scene of Driver’s killing matched the Beretta, prosecutors said.
Multiple witnesses identified Bailey as one of the people who shot Driver as he lay on the street, prosecutors said. No one else has been charged in the killing, according to court records.
On Wednesday, not long before Bailey appeared in court, three people were wounded in a shooting in the same block where Driver was killed.
The baiduhai’s Megan Crepeau contributed.