CHICAGO — A teenager has been arrested and charged in the March murder of a mechanic who was seeking to buy a gun to protect his family.
Jarvis M. Lewis, of the 2800 block of East 78th Street, was charged in the murder of Antonio "Tony" Gray, 26.
On the morning of March 23, Gray was shot in the back while in the 7800 block of South Muskegon Avenue, just three blocks from his home. Gray was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious condition, where he was pronounced dead at 12:09 p.m., the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
Family members believe the murder dates back to a January altercation, when Gray allegedly got into a fight with a male neighbor. The man allegedly threatened Gray, family said in March, and the two got into a physical fight.
“You know, I never thought nothing of it,” said his sister-in-law, who asked not to be named. “Nothing small like that should escalate to where you’ve got to kill each other, so I brushed it off.”
The morning he was killed, Gray was allegedly trying to buy a gun, possibly from someone who knew the man Gray had gotten in a fight with earlier. Family believe Gray might have been set up.
“He wasn’t a street person,” Gray’s sister-in-law said. “That wasn’t his lifestyle.”
Lewis is scheduled to appear in court Saturday.
CONTRIBUTING: Erica Demarest
