May 21--A parolee was ordered held in lieu of $2 million bail after being charged with the 2010 killing of a man he believed failed to protect another man who had been killed earlier the same day, prosecutors said in court Thursday.
David Stewart, 34, of the 1100 block of North Ridgeway Avenue, is charged with the slaying of Demetrius Pitts on Aug. 10, 2010, said Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Sarah Karr.
On that day, Stewart was near Kildare Avenue and Jackson Boulevard in the West Garfield Park neighborhood where a group of people had gathered to mourn the death of a man who had been killed in a shooting earlier in the day, Karr said.
According to public records, Parnell Shumate, 37, of the 4300 block of South Keating Avenue, died after being shot in a parking lot on the 1200 block of South Pulaski Road at 4:40 p.m.
About 9:20 p.m. that day while at the memorial for Shumate, several witnesses spotted Stewart, then 30, pacing and expressing his anger about the killing, Karr said.
As Stewart continued to express his anger, Pitts approached and joined the mourners, Karr said. At that point, Stewart blamed Pitts for not protecting Shumate.
Stewart pulled out a gun and shot Pitts several times, hitting him in the chest and back, Karr said in court.
After the shooting, a witness who heard the gunshots saw Stewart run away from the shooting holding a black, semi-automatic handgun, which he handed to another person before running south on Kildare Avenue, Karr said.
Prosecutors said the case went cold until police reinterviewed a witness in 2014. The witness directed police to other people from the shooting scene who were able to provide the defendant's name and nickname, Karr said in court. Stewart was arrested Tuesday.
Stewart is on parole after being sentenced to five years in state prison after a 2012 conviction on charges of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.
He has other convictions for drug-related offenses and aggravated driving under the influence, and has a misdemeanor domestic battery conviction, according to prosecutors.
