May 06--A Cook County jury on Tuesday was deliberating the fate of a defendant accused of gunning down a Chicago police evidence technician and another man in 2010 as the officer investigated a burglary of the man's car.
Timothy Herring Jr., 25, is on trial at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on charges of first-degree murder and burglary in the slayings of Officer Michael Flisk and Stephen "Sweet Pea" Peters in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood.
After a week of evidence, the jury began deliberating the case about 3 p.m.
He faces mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.
Flisk, 46, an evidence technician and father of four, was dusting for prints behind Peters' home a day after Thanksgiving in November 2010 when he and Peters were shot and killed. Peters' beloved customized red Mustang GT convertible had been stripped of its stereo and other gear.
Prosecutors alleged that Herring had burglarized Peters' car and shot both victims when he learned Flisk had found a usable fingerprint. He shot both again when he noticed one of them moving, prosecutors said.
Both Flisk and Peters, a former Chicago Housing Authority police officer, were armed, but neither had time to draw his weapon.
Herring's fingerprint was found on a box that held a monitor stolen from Peters' car, according to prosecutors.
Two cousins of Herring's as well as three other witnesses have testified that he confessed the killings to them, but Herring's attorneys have argued the cousins decided to turn on an easy target in exchange for a $10,000 cash reward for information on the killings.
jmeisner@tribpub.com
