COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A convicted murderer is once again facing first-degree murder charges amid allegations he fatally shot a man who punched his girlfriend at a West Side barbecue.
Anthony Browley was sentenced in 1992 to 32 years in prison for shooting two rival gang members, killing one, prosecutors said. It's not clear how much of his sentence he served or when Browley was released. He picked up a gun conviction in 2011, netting him another three years in prison.
Browley, now 40, was back in court Thursday — this time on allegations he killed a man at a Humboldt Park barbecue.
"No person within the city of Chicago would be safe if this defendant [Browley] were let out on bail," Cook County Judge James Brown said during a bond hearing Thursday. "No bail."
According to prosecutors, Browley was attending a barbecue at his girlfriend's brother's house in the 1600 block of North Karlov Avenue when Sergio Zaragoza, 28, parked his car, walked toward the party and punched Browley's girlfriend in her face about 3 p.m. Sep. 11.
It is not clear what motivated the attack.
Browley — who had been sitting on the front porch and witnessed the punch — walked toward Zaragoza and fatally shot him once in his chest, Assistant State's Attorney Bryan Grissman said in court Thursday.
Browley and Zaragoza did not know one another, authorities said.
Zaragoza, of the 1700 block of North Karlov Avenue, was pronounced dead at Mt. Sinai Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Browley, of the 1000 block of North Kedzie Avenue, ran away after the shooting, prosecutors said. Several witnesses were able to identify him as the gunman, and he was arrested this week.
According to Browley's public defender, Browley is engaged and has his GED.
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