April 11--Two Austin men are charged with first-degree murder in the death of a man who was shot by an AK-47 assault rifle as he walked home from work in the West Garfield Park neighborhood last week.
Johnathan Sanchez-Rosales, 23, was walking in the 4700 block of West Huron Street around 11:50 p.m. Thursday when Lamar Williams, 24, fired the rifle from a vacant lot across the street, according to Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Katherine Schoon.
Sanchez-Rosales put his hands up in the air and continued to walk toward his house, but Williams ordered him to get on the ground and he did, Schoon said during a bond hearing Sunday. Williams then stood over Sanchez-Rosales and fired one time at close range into Sanchez-Rosales' left temple, she said.
During the confrontation, Decorian Collins, 22, was pointing a .22-caliber rifle at Sanchez-Rosales from about 15 feet away, Schoon said.
After the shooting, Collins and Williams went to an alley and stashed both rifles under a porch, Schoon said. The rifles were later found and taken into evidence by police. Williams and Collins walked by a currency exchange and into the parking lot of a gas station where they were captured on surveillance video.
Both men were later spotted by police and arrested. As officers approached, Williams fled north, jumping over a fence into a yard and running through an open lot where he was apprehended, according to an arrest report. Williams stumbled and fell to the ground twice, giving him multiple scrapes. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in good condition.
A surveillance video from a home captured the killing and showed the shooter wearing a distinctive pair of pants like the pair Williams was wearing at the time he was arrested, Schoon said. Williams' right hand tested positive for gunshot residue, authorities said.
Williams, of the 4600 block of West Erie Street, was ordered held without bond. Collins, of the 400 block of North Long Avenue, was held on $1 million bail. The two were due in court Monday.
