A Cook County judge Friday found veteran Chicago Police Officer Lowell Houser guilty of second-degree murder in the 2017 off-duty shooting of 37-year-old Jose Nieves.
Judge William Gamboney’s ruling comes nearly two months after closing arguments in a three-day bench trial.
In making his ruling, Gamboney stated that evidence at the murder trial supported Houser’s claim that he shot Nieves in self-defense, but that the 60-year-old officer’s decision to open fire was unreasonable.
“The court does not find that Houser was justified in the use of deadly force,” Gamboney said, reading from a written order.
“Even though Nieves may have been aggressive, the evidence suggests he was ready for a fist fight. But Houser brought a gun.”
Wearing a blue suit over a teal plaid shirt, Houser slouched in a chair beside his attorneys as Gamboney spoke. Houser showed no visible reaction until Gamboney announced he would revoke his bond. Houser had been on house arrest since he was charged — a rarity for a murder defendant.
Nieves’ sister, Angelica Nieves, told reporters she was satisfied with the verdict and was glad to see Houser taken into custody.
“It’s not a first-degree conviction…He’s still convicted,” Angelica Nieves said. “All that matters to me that is that he’s convicted, in some or manner, his name is put as a murder, because he was a murderer. He is a murder.”
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Houser now faces a sentence that could range from probation to up to 20 years in prison. The nearly three years Houser spent on house arrest would likely be deducted from any prison time he receives.
Fellow CPD officer Jason Van Dyke was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison last year for second-degree murder for the on-duty shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
There was no dispute at Houser’s October trial that he shot Jose Nieves outside a Northwest Side apartment building where both Nieves and a female friend of Houser’s lived. It was Houser, then on medical leave from the department, who called 911 and reported that he was an officer and “a gentleman tried to attack me. I had to shoot him.”
When police arrived, Houser turned over his .40 caliber pistol, and told officers that Nieves shouted threats at him and appeared to be reaching for a gun when Houser opened fire. Houser’s pistol was the only weapon found at the scene.
Houser did not testify — an unusual move for a defense based on self-defense.
Nieves longtime girlfriend, Michelle Malkowski, testified that Houser pulled up next to her in his car as she and Nieves carried boxes of belongings up to the apartment. The veteran officer asked her why she was helping Nieves, and said Nieves was “no good to women.”
Nieves took issue with the remark, touching off an argument that continued as Malkowski continued on her way up to Nieves’ apartment. Moments later, she heard shots and found Nieves bleeding on the street. A neighbor said he heard the two men shouting and looked out his window, then looked away until he heard shots moments later. When he looked out again, he saw Nieves clutching his chest and Houser pointing a gun at him.
Nieves family have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Houser and the city, alleging that CPD failed to take action after Nieves reported previous misconduct by Houser. Prosecutors have said that Houser pulled his gun on Nieves during an argument a few weeks before the shooting. That litigation has been on hold while Houser’s criminal case was pending.
