#18: Man charged murder of 7-year-old at McDonald's drive-thru has 2 pending felony cases, prosecutors say

Prosecutors on Sunday charged a suburban man in connection with the fatal shooting of 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams at a West Side McDonald’s drive-thru restaurant and trying to carjack a family from Las Vegas on the Eisenhower Expressway.

Marion Lewis had two felony juvenile cases pending — one for burglary and looting, the other for possessing a stolen motor vehicle — when he participated in the murder and other crimes this month, prosecutors said. He’s the 18th person charged with killing, trying to kill, or shooting someone in Chicago this year while awaiting trial in other felony cases.

Marion Lewis is seen in a recent post to his Facebook page. | Facebook

Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Deboni said Adams was sitting in the front seat of her dad’s car when he pulled up to the McDonald’s menu board on April 18. At the same time, Lewis drove a silver Audi into the lot and pulled up behind their car, according to Deboni.

Two gunmen stepped out of the Audi’s passenger-side doors and opened fire on the father’s car. One was armed with a 40-caliber pistol, and the other wielded an AK47-style rifle. The men then returned to the Audi and left the area. Police found 45 shell casings at the scene. Lewis never got out of the car, Deboni said.

Chicago cops pulled Adams from her dad’s car and drove her to Stroger Hospital in a squad car, Deboni said. An officer administered CPR as they sped toward the hospital, but the girl was pronounced dead from three gunshot wounds, he said. Her father suffered a gunshot wound to the torso and survived.

About two hours before the shooting, Lewis posted a video to social media that showed him driving an Audi while wearing a red New York Yankees baseball hat and a black coat, Deboni said. Two passengers in the car are allegedly seen in the video wearing the same clothes that the gunmen wore at McDonald’s. And the social media footage shows the back seat passenger holding an AK47-style rifle, according to Deboni.

Chicago police found Lewis’ social media post and quickly identified him and the passengers from previous contact officers have had with the men, Deboni said. On Thursday, police tracked Lewis to an apartment in Lombard via his Facebook use, Deboni continued. Undercover cops staked out the complex and allegedly saw the distinctive Audi sitting in the parking lot.

Cops watched as Lewis emerged from the apartment with a tan backpack and got into a stolen Dodge Durango, Deboni said. Officers tried to box him in, but Lewis repeatedly rammed a parked car until he was able to drive away, according to prosecutors.

Police followed the Durango until it crashed on the Eisenhower Expressway near Mannheim Road. Lewis got out of the wrecked SUV and ran into the interstate’s traffic lanes with his backpack, Deboni said. According to the allegations, Lewis, brandishing a handgun, began pulling on the driver’s door of a Land Rover that was carrying five occupants, including young children in safety seats.

Lewis allegedly fired a bullet through the driver’s side window and pulled the driver out while the rest of the family remained inside. The driver was cut by flying glass, but the bullet did not hit anyone, Deboni continued.

An undercover officer who was searching the wrecked Durango heard the gunshot and saw Lewis pull the driver from the car, Deboni said. The cop pulled his gun and moved to the Land Rover, where he allegedly saw the top of a handgun sticking out from under Lewis’ thigh on the driver’s seat.

Lewis refused to show his hands and made repeated motions toward the gun, Deboni said. The officer fired five rounds at Lewis when the SUV began rolling backward toward him, according to Deboni. One bullet struck Lewis in his shoulder.

Deboni said the officer then reached into the car, retrieved Lewis’ gun, and took the 18-year-old into custody. An AK47-style rifle was allegedly found in Lewis’ backpack. Lab tests linked the rifle and the 40-caliber handgun Lewis was carrying to the McDonald’s shooting, Deboni alleged.

Prosecutors on Sunday charged him with 18 felonies, including first-degree murder, three counts of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated vehicular hijacking by discharge of a firearm, and six felony counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm. He was previously convicted in juvenile court of a gun charge, possessing a stolen motor vehicle, criminal trespass to vehicle, burglary to auto, and attempted residential burglary as a juvenile, authorities said.

Saying Lewis “turned the 290 expressway into a crime scene,” Judge David Navarro ordered him held without bail. The two gunmen have not yet been charged.

Ironically, Lewis earlier this year posted a screenshot of a Sun-Times news story about a double homicide to his Facebook page. The three-paragraph passage notes that police found cellphone video of the two accused murderers riding in a car with the murder weapons before the slayings and said detectives located the suspects by using Facebook records.

#18: Man charged murder of 7-year-old at McDonald’s drive-thru has 2 pending felony cases, prosecutors say

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