COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A South Shore murder suspect tried to hide his gun in a 12-year-old girl's pants before eventually stashing it in a stranger's kitchen, prosecutors said Friday.
Andrew Smith, 33, was running from police at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when he spotted a 12-year-old girl playing outside with her sister and cousin, Assistant State's Attorney Liam Reardon said during a bond hearing Friday.
Smith grabbed the girl and tried to hide his handgun in her pants, prosecutors said, but the girl began to scream.
Smith then ran into a nearby garden apartment in the 6700 block of South Chappel Avenue and locked the door behind him, Reardon said. A 37-year-old woman and her 15-year-old daughter were home at the time.
The woman unlocked the door for police, who promptly arrested Smith, court records show. Officers found a loaded 9mm handgun with 10 live rounds hidden inside a kitchen cabinet, prosecutors said.
Authorities believe Smith used that gun to fatally shoot Anthony Nicholas, 38, in the 6700 block of South East End Avenue earlier that evening. Prosecutors said the two men knew one another, but would not share specific details Friday.
According to prosecutors, Smith was dressed in all black and donned a black mask when he pulled a gun and fired several shots toward Nicholas on Tuesday — striking the man in his chest and hip. Nicholas was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
An eyewitness called police and provided a description of the shooter, Reardon said.
Police spotted Smith walking eastbound on 67th Street near Jeffery Boulevard. That's when Smith took off running and encountered the 12-year-old girl, prosecutors said.
Authorities were later able to match shell casings from the scene of the homicide to the gun Smith stashed in the stranger's kitchen, Reardon said. Additionally, the fatal shooting was captured on surveillance video.
Smith, of suburban Lyons, is charged with first-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.
Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas denied Smith bail Friday, calling the allegations against him "very egregious."
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