April 30--The family of a slain Chicago police officer cried and held each other Wednesday as crime scene photos were shown in court for the first time.
It was the third day of the trial for Timothy Herring Jr. on charges he gunned down Officer Michael Flisk, an evidence technician who was dusting a car for fingerprints after a garage burglary. Herring, now 24, is also on trial in the killing Stephen "Sweet Pea" Peters, whose prized Mustang GT had been burglarized.
Flisk's widow, Nora, and daughter, Margaret, began to cry when Victor Rivera, a Chicago police forensic scientist, suddenly choked up as he was asked to identify a photo of Flisk's duty belt moments after he had shown jurors that it was similar to his own.
Flisk's widow put her arm around her daughter's shoulders as both wept when prosecutors displayed photos of bloodstains near Flisk's squad car in an alley in the South Chicago neighborhood. The shootings took place on the day after Thanksgiving in 2010.
Much of Wednesday in court was taken up with testimony detailing how two of Herring's cousins gathered in a family bedroom to discuss whether to turn him in for a $10,000 reward a day after the killings
After confirming the existence of the reward, Ashley Garrett said she decided to contact police. It was the big break for police.
Detectives quickly pulled Herring's cellphone records and began questioning others who admitted that Herring had confessed to them as well.
Prosecutors say Herring had stolen stereo and other gear from neighbor Peters' car. On hearing Flisk had found a good print, Herring wheeled around and gunned down both men in the 8100 block of South Burnham Avenue, prosecutors allege.
Herring's attorneys have argued the cousins decided to turn on an easy target in exchange for the cash reward -- later raised to $20,000. Police at the time of the slayings said the money would be distributed only if there was a conviction.
Garrett testified Wednesday that her boyfriend, Melvin Johnson, came home a day after the killings with a flier announcing the reward. Garrett's sister, Eboni, had already told them both that she knew who killed the two, but she didn't disclose who it was.
The two sisters and Johnson then went into Ashley's bedroom to talk about what to do. Eboni then told the other two that a third sister, Meosha Menzies, had said Herring confessed the double homicide to her.
Ashley Garrett testified that she called the hotline number listed on the flier to confirm the reward and then hung up. Johnson and his girlfriend favored turning Herring in, she said. Ashley Garrett agreed to give a statement to police.
Police then approached Eboni Garrett -- and with the urging of her grandmother -- she, too, agreed to cooperate. Menzies also gave a statement to police and prosecutors after Eboni agreed to talk.
Eboni Garrett told authorities she had called Herring after hearing about his confession to her sister and that he confirmed to her he killed both men to avoid returning to prison.
In video interview with a prosecutor played for jurors Wednesday, Eboni Garrett described how her cousin shot both men a second time.
"He seen Sweet Pea still struggling for his breath, moving his legs and stuff so he shot them again to make sure they were dead," she said.
Neither Garrett sister nor Johnson was employed at the time, and all were living in the home of the sister's mother.
But Ashley Garrett, who was pregnant with her second child in 2010, denied being motivated by money.
"$10,000 would've come in really handy back then -- correct?" asked Herring's lawyer, Julie Koehler, an assistant public defender.
"No," Garrett replied in a soft voice, her head down, after a long pause.
sschmadeke@tribpub.com
