CHICAGO _ The alleged getaway driver in the slaying of a Cook County judge and the wounding of his girlfriend has been charged, Chicago police said Wednesday.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi identified Joshua Smith, 37, as the first suspect to be charged in connection with the fatal shooting of Associate Judge Raymond Myles outside his Far South Side home early Monday. His girlfriend, 52, was shot in the leg but is expected to survive.
The charges come after Chicago police had expressed confidence earlier Wednesday that their investigation of the shooting was progressing.
Guglielmi had also disclosed that a suspected getaway car had been recovered and that at least two persons of interest were being questioned by investigators.
Police were able to identify the 2005 red Pontiac Surefire through video surveillance at the slaying scene, Guglielmi said.
Police said a man in the car recovered by police has been ruled out as having any involvement in the shooting.
At an unrelated news conference Wednesday morning, police First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro said he thinks criminal charges in the judge's slaying could come within 24 hours.
"The detectives continue to work diligently and tirelessly around the clock on the case," Navarro told reporters at police headquarters. "They're making great progress. I can tell you that."
Guglielmi said a police tactical unit found the suspected getaway car in the Calumet police district on the city's Far South Side.
The spokesman also said at least two persons of interest, possibly even a third, were being questioned Wednesday by detectives.
The Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday evening that police were questioning a person of interest in the fatal shooting, citing law enforcement sources.
Myles was slain shortly before 5 a.m. Monday when he came to the aid of his girlfriend outside his home in the West Chesterfield neighborhood after she was shot in the leg by an assailant.
The brazen attack, believed to be the first fatal shooting of a Chicago-area judge in more than three decades, touched off a massive investigation.
At a news conference Monday, police said robbery appeared to be the motive, although the assailant didn't get away with any possessions from either victim. The injured woman is expected to survive.
The FBI has offered $25,000 for information leading to the apprehension of the killer.
An autopsy found Myles had been shot multiple times, the Cook County medical examiner's office said Tuesday.
An early riser, Myles was up before dawn, getting ready to hit the gym with his girlfriend before reporting to his courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
But as the 52-year-old woman left the two-story brick residence, she was confronted near the garage by a gunman who shot her in the leg, according to Chicago police. Hearing the commotion, Myles ran outside and exchanged words with the assailant before he was shot and killed.
A neighbor and friend of the judge told the Tribune he was awakened by the shouts of the woman and the crack of about six gunshots. "She was screaming, 'Don't kill him, don't kill him!'" the neighbor said.
At the news conference Monday at police headquarters, Chief of Detectives Melissa Staples said police were pursuing "multiple and promising leads" and reviewing video footage from public and private surveillance cameras in the neighborhood.
Sheriff Tom Dart's office investigates about 10 death threats a year against Cook County judges but had no record of any threats against Myles in recent years.
News of Myles' death stunned colleagues at the county's main criminal courthouse, where Myles had worked for years. Longtime courthouse employees described Myles as hardworking and friendly.
LeRoy K. Martin Jr., presiding judge of the Criminal Division, said Myles was enthusiastic about his most recent assignment to the "youthful offenders" call, where he heard narcotics cases involving defendants about age 27 and younger. Martin had recently discussed expanding Myles' assignment to include young defendants charged with crimes other than drug offenses, he said.
"He was very patient with people and gave out a lot of tough love," Martin said.
While there was no indication Myles had ever been targeted because of his judicial duties, records show he'd fallen victim to the city's violence two years ago when a motorist attacked him after a minor traffic collision on the South Side. The two drivers got out of their cars, and when the judge pulled out a cellphone and began taking photos of the damage, the other driver punched him in the face, causing serious injuries, according to court records.
Ten months went by before authorities arrested a 22-year-old man and charged him with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm to someone over the age of 60, according to court records.
The suspect is free on electronic monitoring while awaiting trial.
