June 06--A second man has been charged with murder in connection with an attempted robbery in the Gold Coast that ended with a woman fleeing the attack being fatally struck by a pickup truck on Lake Shore Drive.
Devonte M. Dodd, 20, of East Chicago, Ind., has been charged with murder, attempted robbery with a firearm and misdemeanor mob action in connection with the death of Pamela Johnson, 32, and injury of her boyfriend early May 29.
Johnson and her 43-year-old boyfriend were enjoying a stroll in the 600 block of North Lake Shore Drive when a group of men began chasing them. The couple tried to flee across Lake Shore Drive, and Johnson was hit and killed by a truck and her boyfriend injured.
Dodd, according to police, approached the victims and announced the robbery. Dodd, of the 400 block of East Chicago Avenue in East Chicago, had been expected to appear in bond court Sunday afternoon in the Leighton Criminal Court Building but instead will appear Monday.
Semaj Waters, 18, of the 9100 block of South Burnside Avenue, who police say pointed a handgun at the victims, appeared in court Saturday on a murder charge. A Cook County judge set Waters' bond at $500,000.
Police credited Dodd's arrest to tips from the community after authorities released photos of several "persons of interest" from surveillance footage.
On Friday, relatives said Waters is innocent and insisted that he and friends were running away from the same gunman as Pamela Johnson, 32, early last Sunday.
"My little brother did not do this," a tearful Latisha Waters said after a news conference outside police headquarters as the charges were announced. "He's innocent."
Police said last week that they were questioning six "people of interest," two adults and four juveniles.
