COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A suburban man was held without bail Friday in the July 2015 murder of Chazelle Hayes.
Hayes, 25, was shot twice following a fight involving two groups of people in the 3500 block of West Grenshaw Street on July 18, 2015, Assistant State's Attorney Matthew Howroyd said during a bond hearing Friday.
The alleged shooter, 26-year-old Timothy Ward, fled to Tennessee after the murder, prosecutors said, and was arrested this week for a parole violation.
Ward had been riding in a van with eight other people — including an infant — when the van stopped at a North Lawndale house for a bathroom break about 1 a.m. July 18, Howroyd said.
While the group was stopped at the home in the 3500 block of West Grenshaw Street, Hayes and several other people walked up to the van and began to fight with Ward's group, prosecutors said.
It's not clear why the two groups fought.
Before long, Ward pulled a gun and shot Hayes two times — fatally striking Hayes in his arm and chest, Howroyd said. At that point, Ward and the original van passengers got back into the van and drove off, according to prosecutors.
Hayes, of the 3400 block of West Madison Street in East Garfield Park, was later pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Shortly after the shooting, police pulled over the van, which was driven by Ward's wife, and found a revolver under Ward's seat, Howroyd said. Officers also recovered seven spent shell casings, a holster and a box of ammunition.
Police were later able to match a fingerprint from the ammo box to Ward, prosecutors said. And Illinois State Police confirmed that bullets recovered from Hayes' body were fired from the revolver under Ward's seat.
It's not clear why Ward wasn't charged at the time.
Court records show that Ward was convicted of robbery in June 2013 and sentenced to five years in prison. He was credited with serving 306 days in Cook County Jail while awaiting trial.
After he was arrested Tuesday, Ward admitted that he fired a gun at Hayes, killing him, prosecutors said.
Ward, of suburban Carpentersville, is charged with first-degree murder. Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. on Friday held Ward without bail.
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