Two days after the arrest of a 15-year-old boy, a second teen has been charged with a botched carjacking that killed a retired Chicago firefighter on the Southwest Side earlier this month.
Police say Dwain Johnson, 18, of Gary, drove the getaway car after three others confronted Dwain Williams as he walked out of his favorite popcorn shop on the Southwest Side earlier this month.
He was charged with first-degree murder, vehicle hijacking and unlawful use of an automatic weapon. Prosecutors said he admitted his role in the attack after confronted with video and other evidence placing him at the scene.
Johnson, who also goes by the last name Cunigan, was out on a juvenile warrant at the time for possession of a stolen motor vehicle and unlawful use of a weapon, according to Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy.
Around 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 3, Johnson, the 15-year-old and two others were in a stolen black Ford Fusion when they spotted Williams driving a maroon Jeep Grand Cherokee and followed him to a popcorn shop in the 2400 block of West 118th Street in the Beverly Woods neighborhood.
They waited for him to come out, and three of them left the Ford and confronted Williams, 65. He pulled out a revolver from his waistband and exchanged gunfire, police said. Williams was hit once in the abdomen and collapsed. The three got back into the car, and Johnson sped down Artesian Avenue.
Police found Williams lying on the pavement next to his Jeep with his revolver close by. Three types of shell casings were found at the scene: 9 mm, .40 caliber and .38 caliber.
Detectives reviewed security video to track the movement of the victim and suspects. Johnson was seen driving the Fusion and staying inside during the attack, Murphy said. He then “makes good their escape.”
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Johnson was arrested on Wednesday during execution of a search warrant for an unrelated case, he said. Police found two guns and linked one of them to the murder of Williams. Johnson’s Facebook profile and other information was found on the cellphone of the 15-year-old, whose fingerprints were found on the hood and inside the Fusion, Murphy said.
After being arrested, Johnson made “detailed admissions” that he was the driver and was involved in the plan to carjack Williams, Murphy said.
Assistant Public Defender Julie Koehler told the court that, before the pandemic hit, Johnson had been attending high school, where he was a senior, and living with his mother in Gary. Earlier this year, he was shot and spent a week in a hospital.
Before that, he had been working at a Chuck E. Cheese as a game manager, Koehler said.
Denying bond, Judge Charles Beach II called Johnson a danger to the community. “This was a coordinated effort,” Beach said.
On Thursday, police announced murder charges against the 15-year-old, saying he was known to authorities as a member of a “crew” that stole cars in the south suburbs.
Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said investigators, including the FBI and south suburban police departments, learned the four were involved in other carjackings and auto thefts.