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Facebook Fight Between Women Ended in Murder, Prosecutors Say

By Erin Meyer | September 19, 2013 12:49pm
 Khalila Southall, 30, is accused of killing a woman she'd argued with online in a West Side gas station.
Khalila Southall, 30, is accused of killing a woman she'd argued with online in a West Side gas station.
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COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Facebook fight between two women ended in murder at a West Side gas station, prosecutors said.

Khalila Southall, 30, was charged with first-degree murder and held without bail after she pulled a gun on woman in an East Garfield Park gas station last month, prosecutors said.

Lakeisha Tate, 28, was leaving the gas station in the 3300 block of West Harrison Street just after 1 p.m. Aug. 26 when she ran into Southall, police and Assistant State's Attorney Joe Crocker said.

Southall confronted her, and the two began to fight in a doorway in front of several people, including the gas station clerks, prosecutors said.

During the scuffle, Southall pulled a gun and shot Tate in the leg and torso, killing her, Crocker said.

Southall fled to Minnesota, but she left her ID at the West Side gas station, prosecutors said. The .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun allegedly used in the shooting and the red dress Southall wore at the time of the shooting were found at her boyfriend's house, prosecutors said.

Cops caught up with Southall in Rochester, Minn., on Sept. 5, after she was arrested in an unrelated incident. Southall allegedly told them then that she and Tate had been arguing on Facebook before the fatal encounter in the gas station, prosecutors said.

Southall "acknowledged that she and the victim had a previous argument on Faceboook and that she and the victim did not like each other," Crocker said.

Witnesses at the Citgo gas station said the argument between Southall and Tate began over a man with whom the two were romantically involved. Witnesses also said at the time, Tate was pregnant with the man's child and Southall already had a child with the man.