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Sergeant Testifies About Finding Two Officers Mortally Wounded in Alley

By Erica Demarest | April 27, 2015 10:37am | Updated on April 27, 2015 8:01pm
 Timothy Herring, 24, was charged with murdering Officer Michael Flisk (l.) and Stephen Peters (r.).
Timothy Herring, 24, was charged with murdering Officer Michael Flisk (l.) and Stephen Peters (r.).
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COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — When Sgt. Rahman Muhammad pulled into a South Chicago alley on Nov. 26, 2010, he was surprised to find another police vehicle already there, he said.

The sergeant had been called to the alley between Burnham and Manistee avenues about 1:30 p.m. to investigate a 911 call reporting gunfire.

"I was wondering why the officer that was on the scene did not notify any dispatch," Muhammad testified Monday.

As the veteran officer walked around the parked squad car, he said, he spotted 44-year-old Stephen Peters lying unresponsive with a gunshot wound in his head. Muhammad reached for his radio and rounded the car to find Officer Michael Flisk, 46, in a matching state. Muhammad pulled a gun, he said, before calling for help and rushing to the officer's side.

 Timothy Herring, 24, faces mandatory life in prison if convicted.
Timothy Herring, 24, faces mandatory life in prison if convicted.
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Cook County Sheriff's Department

"I didn't know if the offender was still on the scene," Muhammad testified Monday, fighting tears. "I was yelling at him to hold on. Help was on the way."

Flisk, a father of four, and Peters, a retired Chicago Housing Authority officer, were both pronounced dead that afternoon.

Timothy Herring, a then 19-year-old parolee, was charged with murder a few days later and held without bail.

Herring's trial began Monday — nearly five years after the assault — with testimony from locals and police, including Muhammad.

Prosecutors argued that Herring shot Flisk and Peters to cover up a burglary he'd committed hours earlier. Flisk, an evidence technician, was in the alley that day to pull prints from Peters' prized Ford Mustang, which had been burglarized.

When Herring returned to the scene to collect car parts he stashed in a nearby garbage can, prosecutors alleged, he overheard Flisk tell Peters that he found a good fingerprint. That's when Herring opened fire, prosecutors said.

But Herring's public defenders countered that police have no substantial physical evidence linking Herring to the crime. And while several witnesses have come forward with damning testimony, attorney Julie Koehler pointed out there's a $20,000 reward in play.

"The state's case is based upon the statements of people who are seeking a $20,000 reward and have every intention to come into this courtroom and point the finger at Tim and get that money," Koehler said after court. "The reward only pays out for the arrest — and conviction — of Timothy Herring."

Herring's friend, Tranay Smith, took the stand Monday afternoon. Smith, 27, testified that she picked up Herring the morning of the attack, spent part of the day smoking marijuana with him, and dropped Herring back off near his house.

Sometime later, Smith said, she noticed police in the area and called Herring "being a friend." She knew the teen was wearing an electronic bracelet as a condition of his parole for an armed robbery conviction.

"He told me to come and get him," Smith said, adding that she met Herring near 81st Street and Muskegon Avenue — about a block from the shooting site. "He said 'go.' ... He was acting paranoid. He was just looking around."

Smith took Herring to her house in the 8300 block of South Phillips Avenue, she said, where he cut his hair using scissors from her dresser. Herring asked whether police cars had cameras before admitting to shooting two people, she testified.

"He just said he shot two people," Smith said, noting he didn't specify whether he'd killed them.

Herring removed a gun from his waistband, according to Smith, and stashed it in a Huggie's diaper box in Smith's closet. Her son was 1 at the time.

Smith testified that a mutual friend came by the house later to pick up Herring's gun and other belongings.

During cross-examination, Herring's defense attorneys pointed out that Smith told police a completely different story after the shooting. She never mentioned her involvement or Herring's alleged confession.

Smith said she lied to police because "I was scared."

But the defense countered that Smith is currently awaiting trial for an aggravated battery charge. If convicted, Smith, who has a 6-year-old son, could spend three to seven years in prison. In court Monday, she appeared as a witness for the State's Attorney's Office — the same office that brought about charges in that case.

Smith's next court date is May 29.

Herring's trial is expected to last two to three weeks, court sources said. It will continue Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. If convicted, Herring would face mandatory life in prison.

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