COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Two men already serving lengthy prison sentences for a 2003 shooting now face first-degree murder charges in the same case.
Victim Melvin Sims, who was shot in his head and paralyzed in March 2003, succumbed to his wounds on Dec. 27, 2016, at the age of 57, prosecutors said.
Gunmen Paul Anderson and Leonard Anthony were convicted in November 2004 of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery in the 2003 attack that took place near Chicago and Harding avenues. The men were sentenced to 24 and 30 years in prison, respectively.
According to state records, Anderson was slated for parole in November 2023; Anthony was expecting to be released in September 2030.
But a recent autopsy concluded that Sims died of "complications of remote gunshot wounds," prosecutors said, and the case was ruled a homicide. Both shooters have been charged with first-degree murder.
Bail was set last week for Anderson at $2 million. Anthony appeared Thursday before Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr., who denied bail.
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According to prosecutors, Anderson and Anthony got into an argument with Smith and his brothers about 9:30 p.m. March 29, 2003, in Humboldt Park. Anderson and Anthony were members of the Vice Lord gang who sold drugs, prosecutors said; the men fought about money owed to Sims' brother.
Anderson and Anthony soon left, while Sims and his brothers walked back to their home in the 700 block of North Springfield Avenue, Assistant State's Attorney Guy Lisuzzo said during a bond hearing Thursday at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, 2650 S. California Ave.
Roughly 10 minutes later, Anderson and Anthony emerged from a vacant lot near the home armed with guns, prosecutors said. The duo fired multiple rounds toward Sims' family — striking Sims in his head and one of Sims' brothers in his mouth and head.
The brother survived. Sims became paralyzed and would die nearly 14 years later.
Multiple witnesses identified Anderson and Anthony as the shooters, prosecutors said.
According to Lisuzzo, Anthony had previous convictions for manufacturing and delivering a controlled substance, and delivering a controlled substance.
