‘Motive’ Episode 4: What really happened at the Honey Baked Ham

It was just after dark on a cold February night in 1993 when Eric Morro was shot to death. He and a friend got into a confrontation with two other kids. They were all standing next to a Honey Baked Ham store at 3018 W. Belmont Ave. when a gun went off. Eric was killed and T.J. was arrested. Larry saw it all.

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Motive extra features

Get a look at the real-life people and places covered in this episode of “Motive.” Meet T.J., his mother Victoria and the family members, friends and lawyers who tell his story.

T.J. after his 1993 arrest

Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez was arrested in February 1993 in the murder of Eric Morro outside the Honey Baked Ham store. T.J. was throwing gang signs on Belmont Avenue earlier that day.

The Honey Baked Ham site today

In 2018, construction began on new condos at the place where the Honey Baked Ham once stood. The alley is no longer there, but the building with the peaked roof to the right was there in 1993.

The corner where T.J. threw gang signs earlier

The northwest corner of West Belmont and North Sacramento avenues, where T.J. and his friend Larry Tueffel were throwing gang signs at a bus in 1993.