COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A man already serving 21 years in prison for a 2000 shooting is now facing murder charges in the same attack.
According to prosecutors, Robert Lipsey shot Anton Johnson in his head and back on April 13, 2000 — leaving Johnson paralyzed from his waist down. Lipsey, now 33, was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 21 years in prison.
Johnson died last year at age 36 when a blood clot traveled to his lungs and suffocated him, prosecutors said.
That clot was a direct result of Johnson's paralysis, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, which ruled Johnson's death a homicide by way of "complications from remote multiple gunshot wounds."
Now, prosecutors are bringing a murder case against Lipsey.
Assistant State's Attorney Lesley Gool during a bond hearing Thursday said that though Johnson died in July 2015, the state needed time to interview witnesses and build a case.
The now-fatal shooting happened in the 300 block of North Lorel Avenue in Austin on April 13, 2000, prosecutors said.
Lipsey admitted in a hand-written statement to shooting Johnson once in his back and again in his head, just behind his ear, after Johnson fell to the ground. According to Gool, Lipsey also shot a second man in his stomach "just because [he] was there."
It's not clear why Lipsey targeted Johnson.
Lipsey was convicted of attempted first-degree murder in December 2002 and sentenced to 21 years in prison. The Illinois Department of Corrections lists his projected parole date as March 2020.
Prosecutors have filed new first-degree murder charges in the 2000 shooting. Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas on Thursday set Lipsey's bail in the case at $1 million.
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