Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Son Gunned Down Men Who 'Disrespected' His Father, Prosecutors Say

 Thomas Bishop, 21, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and held without bail.
Thomas Bishop, 21, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and held without bail.
View Full Caption
Chicago Police Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A 21-year-old man has been charged in the July 4 shooting that killed two men in West Englewood.

Prosecutors allege Thomas Bishop, then 20, opened fire inside a strip-mall parking lot near 63rd Street and Seeley Avenue about 2:30 a.m. on July 4, 2014 — killing Corey Hudson, 34, and Robert Cotten, 35.

Bishop's father had gotten into a fight with the two men earlier that morning "because he felt he had been disrespected," Assistant State's Attorney Kim Przekota said during a bond hearing Wednesday.

During the fight, prosecutors said, Bishop left briefly and returned with a loaded assault rifle.

After his father and his father's friends drove away, Bishop opened fire, riddling Hudson with 10 gunshot wounds and two graze wounds, Przekota said. Cotten was shot four times, including one shot to the back of his head.

Police recovered 19 shell casings on the ground, according to prosecutors.

Several witnesses would later come forward to identify Bishop as the shooter, Przekota said. Surveillance footage from a local business shows Bishop leaving the area, returning minutes before the shooting and leaving right after. The shooting itself was not caught on tape.

Bishop, of the 8200 block of South Wolcott Avneue, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

His public defender argued that the videotape evidence was circumstantial, and wondered why it took so long to charge Bishop. She said Bishop works as a mover, lives with his girlfriend and has three children: a daughter and twin 1-year-old boys.

Cook County Judge Donald Panarese Jr. ordered Bishop held without bail.

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: