COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A parolee trying to cover up his tracks after a car burglary was convicted Wednesday morning of killing the Chicago Police evidence technician investigating the break-in and the retired CHA officer who owned the car.
A Cook County jury ruled that Timothy Herring knew Chicago Police Officer Michael Flisk was an officer doing his official duty when Herring shot him in the head on Nov. 26, 2010, in South Chicago.
Prosecutors argued Herring heard Flisk say he had found a good fingerprint tied to the break-in.
Herring also killed retired CHA officer Stephens Peters, who owned the Ford Mustang Herring burglarized earlier that day, the jury ruled.
Herring was convicted of first-degree murder and burglary in the slayings.
After the verdict, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez called the case "another example of the senseless violence police see, unfortunately, here in Chicago."
"Two men gunned down: Officer Flisk simply doing his job, Mr. Peters a victim," Alvarez said.
She said neither family wanted to make a statement.
"Both families have had to endure quite a bit," she said. "We hope that this verdict brings some sense of justice to the Flisk family and to the Peters family."
She said Herring faces an automatic life sentence after being convicted of both murders.
Herring, then a 19-year-old parolee, was charged with murder a few days after the shooting and held without bail. His trial began April 27 and was originally expected to last more than two weeks. But on Tuesday afternoon, attorneys presented their closing arguments.
Jurors deliberated for nearly seven hours on Tuesday before being sequestered in a hotel. They returned Wednesday and took about 1½ hours to agree on Herring's guilt.
Prosecutors argued that Herring shot Flisk and Peters to cover up a burglary he committed earlier that day in the 8100 block of South Burnham Avenue.
Prosecutors said Herring broke into Peters' Mustang that morning and stashed what he stole in a nearby garbage can. When Herring returned later in the day to pick up the goods, he overheard Flisk, a longtime evidence technician, tell Peters he found a good fingerprint. Herring then opened fire, striking both men in their heads, prosecutors said.
But Herring's public defenders argued police had no substantial physical evidence linking Herring to the crime.
And while several witnesses came forward with damning testimony, attorney Julie Koehler pointed out there was a reward in play.
"The state's case is based upon the statements of people who are seeking a $20,000 reward and have every intention to come into this courtroom and point the finger at Tim and get that money," Koehler said after court last week. "The reward only pays out for the arrest — and conviction — of Timothy Herring."
On the first day of the trial, Herring's friend, Tranay Smith, testified that she picked up Herring and brought him to her house shortly after the shooting. Smith, 27, had noticed a lot of police in the area and called Herring "being a friend" because she knew Herring was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet as a condition of his recent parole, she said.
"He told me to come and get him," Smith said, adding that she met Herring near 81st Street and Muskegon Avenue — about a block from the shooting site. "He said 'Go.' ... He was acting paranoid. He was just looking around."
Smith said she took Herring to her house in the 8300 block of South Phillips Avenue, where he cut his hair using scissors from her dresser. Herring asked whether police cars had cameras before admitting to shooting two people, Smith testified.
"He just said he shot two people," Smith said, noting he didn't specify whether he killed either of them.
Herring removed a gun from his waistband, according to Smith, and stashed it in a Huggie's diaper box in Smith's closet. Her son was 1 at the time. Smith testified that a mutual friend came by the house later that day to pick up Herring's gun and other belongings.
Herring's attorneys were quick to point out that Smith told police an entirely different story after the shooting. She never mentioned her involvement or Herring's alleged confession until after the reward was announced.
Smith testified last week that she originally lied to police because "I was scared."
The defense team questioned Smith's credibility, noting that she is currently awaiting trial for an aggravated battery charge. If convicted, Smith, who has a 6-year-old son, could spend three to seven years in prison. She testified against Herring as a witness for the State's Attorney's Office — the same office that was charging her in the battery case.
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