COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A man on parole for armed robbery told police he fatally shot his cousin's husband in June "because he was drunk," prosecutors said Thursday.
The victim, 41-year-old Edward Mason, said, "Damn, cuz, you shot me, cuz," before dying on the Near West Side about 3:35 a.m. June 4, police and prosecutors said.
One of the accused gunmen, 31-year-old Albert Robinson, was denied bail Thursday on a first-degree murder charge. According to prosecutors, Robinson is Mason's wife's cousin.
A second gunman, believed to be Mason's brother-in-law, has not been charged.
Prosecutors allege Robinson, Mason, the brother-in-law and several witnesses were drinking in an alley in the 1800 block of West Maypole Avenue when an argument broke out shortly after 3 a.m. June 4.
Mason's son stopped the argument — but Mason's brother-in-law soon pulled out a gun and approached Mason, Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Carlson said during a bond hearing Thursday at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, 2650 S. California Ave.
Prosecutors believe Mason's brother-in-law then lifted Mason's shirt to see if he was armed; he was not. At that point, Mason's brother-in-law shot him once in his torso, Carlson said.
Mason collapsed on the ground, prosecutors said, and his brother-in-law shot him multiple times. That's when Robinson walked up and shot Mason several additional times, according to Carlson.
Robinson and Mason's brother-in-law escaped in two different cars, prosecutors said.
Mason, of the 4100 block of North Ravenswood Avenue, was shot 14 times in his chest, abdomen, cheeks, forearms, thigh and back, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. He died on the scene.
Sometime after the shooting, Mason's son received a text from the brother-in-law "apologizing for murdering his father" and offering "financial compensation for the murder," Carlson said.
Robinson, of the 5200 block of West Potomac Avenue, is on parole for an armed robbery case involving a gun, records show. He has convictions for unlawful use of a weapon and illegally carrying a gun.
After being arrested earlier this week, police said Robinson told them "he shot the victim because he was drunk" and that "the victim's last words were, 'Damn cuz, you shot me cuz,'" Carlson said.
