Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

'I Got Something For You' Driver Says Before Running Over Rival: Charges

By  Erica Demarest and Kelly Bauer | May 15, 2017 7:51am | Updated on May 15, 2017 2:07pm

 Chynna Stapleton, 24, of the 300 block of East 131st Place, is been charged with murder.
Chynna Stapleton, 24, of the 300 block of East 131st Place, is been charged with murder.
View Full Caption
Chicago Police Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — The woman who killed a romantic rival with her Jeep this weekend reportedly yelled, "I got something for you," before ramming the victim into a Morgan Park tree, prosecutors said Monday.

The pair had been arguing on Facebook over a man who was dating the victim and had fathered one of the driver's children, prosecutors said.

"It's really sad that it's always women fighting over men; it's ridiculous," Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil told accused driver Chynna Stapleton, 24, during a bond hearing Monday at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, 2650 S. California Ave. "You are a danger to yourself and society. ... No bail."

According to prosecutors and police, Stapleton had an ongoing feud with victim Tatyanna Lewis, 18, the daughter of a Chicago Police officer.

The women got into a physical fight about 11:30 p.m. Friday in the 11400 block of South May Street, Assistant State's Attorney Jamie Santini said in court Monday. Several bystanders got involved, throwing additional punches.

When the fight ended, Stapleton got into her 2002 Jeep Liberty with a 13-year-old in the backseat, prosecutors said. It was not clear how Stapleton and the child knew one another.

As Stapleton started to drive away, prosecutors said, Lewis kicked the Jeep.

That's when Stapleton reportedly yelled, "I got something for you," before maneuvering her Jeep around a street sign and driving up and over the curb on to a sidewalk and residential lawns, prosecutors said.

Lewis and several witnesses had begun to walk away, according to Santini, but soon heard the Jeep "barreling down on them on the sidewalk."

As she tried to run away, Lewis tripped and fell, prosecutors said. Stapleton hit Lewis with the Jeep, pinning her body to a tree in front of a home near 114th and May streets, authorities said.

When Stapleton reversed her Jeep, Lewis was dragged away from the tree and pulled under the vehicle, according to prosecutors. Stapleton then put her car back in drive and ran over Lewis with "both the front and rear wheels" of her Jeep, Santini said.

Stapleton eventually drove off, leaking fluids and dropping damaged car parts as she went, authorities said.

Chicago Police officers pulled over the Jeep in the 100 block of West 115th Street. Stapleton had bloody facial injuries consistent with smashing her head into the steering wheel during a crash, prosecutors said. There was bark lodged in the front of the Jeep.

Stapleton, of the 300 block of East 131st Place, is charged with first-degree murder.

According to Assistant Public Defender Chris Anderson, Stapleton has no prior criminal record. She is a high school graduate with three children, ages 5, 2 and 1, the attorney said. She works in retail.

The Facebook posts leading up to Friday's fight "clearly indicate some provocative language toward [Stapleton] ... indicating [Lewis] wanted to fight the defendant," Anderson said.

Anderson added that his client was beat up during the fist fight and that he believes charges will later be downgraded to second-degree murder.

One witness told told ABC7 that he had heard shouting before the incident.

"All I heard was, 'Get out of the way' and when I came out here she was driving up on her. She hit her with the car and, like, drug her into the tree," said the witness.

Another witness told CBS2, "I've never seen anything like this before in my life."

Stapleton lives in the 300 block of East 131st Place, police said.