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Dice-Game Debt Leads to Fatal Shootout, Prosecutors Say

By Erica Demarest | December 1, 2015 7:36pm
 Alden Welch, 27, is charged with murder.
Alden Welch, 27, is charged with murder.
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DNAinfo; Cook County Sheriff's Office

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A man wanted for a March murder that stemmed from an argument over a dice game was arrested in Houston this week and extradited to Chicago, prosecutors said.

Alden Welch, 27, now faces murder charges for the March 3, 2015, shooting that left Antinino Walker dead and another man wounded.

According to prosecutors, Welch went to a home in the 8000 block of South Dante Avenue about 1:20 p.m. on March 3 to settle a dice-game debt with one of the shooting victims.

The victim, a 25-year-old man who was later shot in his neck, asked Welch to come alone, but Welch arrived at the man's home with two other men — Israel Taylor, 21, and Walker, 28, according to Assistant State's Attorney Jamie Santini, who spoke during a bond hearing Tuesday.

At one point, the victim saw Taylor pull a gun and began shooting at him, prosecutors said. The man allegedly pulled his own 9mm handgun and returned fire.

During the ensuing gunfire, Walker was shot in his back, Taylor was shot in his arm and the 25-year-old man was shot in his neck, Santini said.

Welch, Walker and Taylor ran away, prosecutors said, and all three men ended up at Jackson Park Hospital, where staff reported the shooting to police.

Walker, of the 6500 block of South Champlain Avenue, was pronounced dead at 9:17 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. Taylor was treated for his wound and arrested, prosecutors said, while Welch — who was not injured in the gunfight — fled the city.

Welch was arrested on a warrant this week and brought back to Chicago on Monday, Santini said.

Cook County Judge Laura Sullivan on Tuesday set Welch's bail at $600,000. Taylor was previously ordered held in lieu of $700,000.

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