A Far South Side man has been charged with murder in the killing of a childhood friend of his inside the victim’s Roseland neighborhood home Saturday, authorities said.
John A. Smith, 22, is charged with first-degree murder in the killing about 4:55 p.m. Saturday of Tremayne Henderson, 21, of the first block of West 104th Place, according to authorities. Henderson was killed at his home, according to authorities and public records.
Smith, a childhood friend of Henderson’s, was ordered held without bail following a hearing midday Tuesday before Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
Smith also faces a felony drug-possession charge after he was found to have drugs on him when he was arrested, police said.
Smith and Henderson were at Henderson’s home, which he shared with other family members, when they got into a fight, prosecutors said. They were on the first floor of the home, and members of Henderson’s family came down from the second floor when they heard the fight, separated them and took Smith into a bedroom.
Smith was able force his way of the bedroom and get back to where Henderson was in the home, where he shot Henderson twice in the chest, prosecutors said.
Smith then ran out of the home, got in his car and drove off, but was followed by one of Henderson’s relatives, who called 911 as she followed. Henderson drove to near an uncle’s house in the 10000 block of South Perry Avenue, where he parked his car.
A witness saw Smith get out of the car with a gun in his hand, and surveillance video shows him wrapping the gun in a white cloth after he gets out of the car.
When police arrived at the Perry address, they found Henderson in the basement, with his clothes in a washer, and found three small plastic bags with what was believed to be crack cocaine in his clothes, prosecutors said. Officers also found a gun beleived used in the shooting.
Police originally had said that Henderson was on the block when he was approached by someone who shot him in the chest.
After the shooting, Henderson was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center, and he was pronounced dead at 9:16 p.m. Saturday, officials said. Following an autopsy, the Cook County medical examiner’s office determined Henderson died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
Witnesses identified Smith as the person who shot Henderson, prosecutors said.
Smith is scheduled to appear in court again on Feb. 10.