Teen charged in 2011 triple murder outside Chatham neighborhood bakery
Charges against another suspect had been dropped
Aaron Barnes, 19, of Chicago, has been charged in the 2011 slayings of three people outside a Chatham bakery. (Chicago Police Department / May 27, 2012)
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Cook County prosecutors have charged a 19-year-old Chicago man in the 2011 slayings of three people outside a bakery in the Chatham neighborhood.
Aaron Barnes, of the 9000 block of South Jeffery Boulevard, was arrested Friday, May 25th, and later charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of Chanda Thompson; her boyfriend, Shawn Russell; and their friend Cortez Champion, authorities said. He is being held on a no-bail arrest warrant.
Barnes' arrest come four months after prosecutors dropped murder charges in the case against another teen, Nicko Grayson, 17, who authorities originally implicated in the shooting. New evidence, including witnesses who came forward, pointed to Barnes as the killer, authorities said.
The shooting was retaliatory, authorities said.
Thompson, Russell and Champion, all 21, were fatally shot Nov. 5 while sitting in a car outside A Piece of Cake bakery in the 400 block of East 87th Street. Thompson had just picked up a cake there for her daughter's birthday party when the shooting occurred.
Witnesses had originally identified Grayson as the gunman from an array of photos, and he was then identified by witnesses in a police lineup. But in January, prosecutors were forced to drop murder and unlawful vehicle-invasion charges against Grayson because he was falsely identified by witnesses, law enforcement sources have said.
Grayson, however, was in the area at the time of the shooting, the sources said. He now faces aggravated battery and robbery charges in a separate shooting from last year.
Barnes was convicted last year for unlawful use of body armor and possessing a gun without a firearms owner's identification card, both misdemeanors, according to court records.
Aaron Barnes, of the 9000 block of South Jeffery Boulevard, was arrested Friday, May 25th, and later charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of Chanda Thompson; her boyfriend, Shawn Russell; and their friend Cortez Champion, authorities said. He is being held on a no-bail arrest warrant.
Barnes' arrest come four months after prosecutors dropped murder charges in the case against another teen, Nicko Grayson, 17, who authorities originally implicated in the shooting. New evidence, including witnesses who came forward, pointed to Barnes as the killer, authorities said.
The shooting was retaliatory, authorities said.
Thompson, Russell and Champion, all 21, were fatally shot Nov. 5 while sitting in a car outside A Piece of Cake bakery in the 400 block of East 87th Street. Thompson had just picked up a cake there for her daughter's birthday party when the shooting occurred.
Witnesses had originally identified Grayson as the gunman from an array of photos, and he was then identified by witnesses in a police lineup. But in January, prosecutors were forced to drop murder and unlawful vehicle-invasion charges against Grayson because he was falsely identified by witnesses, law enforcement sources have said.
Grayson, however, was in the area at the time of the shooting, the sources said. He now faces aggravated battery and robbery charges in a separate shooting from last year.
Barnes was convicted last year for unlawful use of body armor and possessing a gun without a firearms owner's identification card, both misdemeanors, according to court records.
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