COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A man was denied bail after prosecutors said he fatally shot a man in Chicago Lawn earlier this month following a fight.
Devon Clark, 19, of the 600 block of East 50th Place, was charged with first-degree murder.
He's accused of fatally shooting Joseph Brittman, also 19, whose father said he was killed hours after being involved in a fistfight.
About 3:05 p.m. on Jan. 8, Brittman was with witnesses at 63rd Street and Campbell Avenue when Clark and others came up to them, Assistant State's Attorney Allison Sise said. Earlier that day, Clark had been in a fight with one of the witnesses, Sise said.
Clark then pulled out a gun, and Brittman and the witnesses ran south on Campbell Avenue, Sise said in bond court Sunday.
When Brittman and the others reached 64th Street and Campbell, less than a block from where Brittman lived, Clark and the rest of his group was there to meet them.
Clark and the others started to taunt Brittman and his group, saying that they didn't have guns, Sise said.
When the witnesses and Brittman moved closer to their taunters, Clark ran forward and fired the handgun multiple times in their direction, Sise said. Brittman and the rest tried to run, but Brittman was struck once in his lower back and fell to he ground, according to Sise.
Brittman was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 5:24 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Clark was identified by witnesses as the shooter and arrested, Sise said.
His adult background includes a burglary conviction in September 2013, for which he was sentenced to two years of probation, Sise said. Clark was also convicted of a misdemeanor gun-related charge, Sise said.
Brittman's father, Randy Brittman, said earlier this month that his son had also been involved in the argument that came to blows hours before his death. He said his son had won in the fight, and the shooter came back for revenge.
Randy Brittman said Joseph Brittman loved to play basketball and videogames. He acknowledged that his son had a criminal record, and that he often got mixed in with the "wrong crowd."
Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil ordered Clark held without bail on Sunday.
