Two suspect charged in April murder

by CYRYL JAKUBOWSKI

Two men were charged with murder last week in connection with the fatal shooting of a former Taft high school student in April in the parking lot of the Taco Burrito King restaurant, 5509 N. Harlem Ave., according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The suspects were identified by the office at Kenyatta Alexander, age 21, of the 1000 block of South Bellwood Avenue, Bellwood, and Tramian Barnes, age 21, of the 100 block of Home Avenue, Oak Park.

The two have been charged with the murder, robbery and vehicular hijacking of the teenager, who was identified by police in April as Anthony Heatherly, age 17, of the 5700 bock of North Kingsdale Avenue.

The teenager was fatally shot at about 1:10 p.m. Monday, April 4, according to 16th (Jefferson Park) District police. He was pronounced dead at Lutheran General Hospital, police said.

According to the state’s attorney’s office, Heatherly drove his Hyundai to the parking lot to meet the two men with the intent of selling them marijuana. The office said that Barnes’ 22-year-old girlfriend drove Barnes and Alexander in her Nissan and parked next to the victim and that the men entered into the car with the teenager.

Prosecutors said that Alexander allegedly shot Heatherly once in the chest and that Barnes and Alexander opened the driver’s-side door and pushed the teen out of the car. Barnes then drove away, dragging Heatherly several feet in the parking lot and driving over him, according to the state’s attorney’s office.

After the shooting, Barnes told his girlfriend to go home and to wait for them to call her, prosecutors said. Barnes eventually called the girlfriend and told her to pick them up in Maywood, and she picked them up in an alley and dropped them off in Melrose Park, prosecutors said. Heatherly’s Hyundai was found in Maywood, prosecutors said.

Detectives determined from cell phone records that Barnes and his girlfriend were at the scene of the murder during the killing, according to the state’s attorney’s office. Detectives also found the teenager’s license plate attached to the Nissan that had been abandoned, according to prosecutors.

Alexander was charged on Aug. 11 and Barnes was charged on Aug. 10, according to prosecutors. Alexander allegedly had been hospitalized and couldn’t appear in court on Aug. 10 because he had consumed bleach.

According to published reports, Barnes was out on bail on a murder charge in the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man in the 4300 block of North Milwaukee Avenue on Jan. 20, 2014. The man reported that he was a passenger in a car belonging to an acquaintance and that the acquaintance shot him, according to police. The man reported that he walked to his residence in the 5000 block of West Cullom Avenue and that his friends called police, police said.

The man, who was shot in the stomach and the arm, died of his wounds at Illinois Masonic Hospital the following day, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. He was identified by the office as Alex Anderson.

The victim told police that he was shot by a man known as “Trey,” police said.

This is just part of today’s coverage. Get the full story - every article, every ad, every page. Subscribe now.

The Latest From Our Community