COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A jury decided Thursday that Marcus Floyd is fit to stand trial in the murder of Chicago Police Officer Thomas Wortham IV.
Floyd, 24, claims he has amnesia and cannot remember the events surrounding Wortham's death.
The off-duty officer and Iraq war veteran was gunned down outside his parents' Chatham home on May 19, 2010, after Floyd and three others tried to steal Wortham's motorcycle, authorities said. Wortham told the men he was a police officer and pulled his service weapon; he was shot down in the ensuing gunfire.
His father, retired police officer Thomas Wortham III, grabbed his own gun and fatally shot one of the attackers, Floyd's cousin, 20-year-old Brian Floyd.
Marcus Floyd was shot five or six times and underwent multiple surgeries, according to court testimony.
The two other men — Paris McGee, 25, and Toyious Taylor, 34, — were each convicted of two counts of murder in late 2014: one for Thomas Wortham IV and one for Brian Floyd. (In Illinois, if someone dies during the commission of a felony, his accomplices can be held responsible, regardless of who pulled the trigger.) Both men, whom authorities said acted as lookouts, are serving life sentences.
This week, a jury was asked to decide whether Marcus Floyd was fit to stand trial.
His defense team argued that he had retrograde amnesia as a result of his gunshot injuries from that May evening and the subsequent surgeries.
Prosecutors argued that it didn't matter whether Floyd could remember what happened the night he allegedly shot Wortham. What was important, prosecutors said, was whether Floyd had the intellectual, memory and cognitive skills to understand what happened that night and help his attorneys in his defense.
The jury decided after deliberation Thursday that Floyd was fit to stand trial.
His next court appearance is Sept. 30, but a trial date has not been set, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
