#40: Five-time felon, on electronic monitoring for gun case, killed man during Christmastime home invasion, prosecutors say

Prosecutors on Tuesday charged 28-year-old Marvin Flanagan with fatally shooting another man during a home invasion four days before Christmas. The allegations make Flanagan the 40th person charged with killing, trying to kill, or shooting someone in Chicago last year while on bail for serious felonies.

Flanagan, a five-time felon with a history of armed robbery and gun convictions, was supposed to be on electronic monitoring for a pending Class X charge of armed habitual criminal — a gun case — when he shot and killed 39-year-old Miguel Perez on the West Side early on December 21, Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Deboni said.

Perez was hanging out with a small group of friends in his basement apartment when his home security system detected movement near the alley and sent a notification to his phone, Deboni said. Armed with a handgun, Perez investigated and was shot almost immediately after he walked out the door, according to Deboni. Perez reportedly fired off some shots before he lost consciousness.

Shortly after police arrived, St. Mary’s Hospital notified CPD that a man arrived in their emergency room with gunshot wounds. That man was Marvin Flanagan. Security footage shows a silver SUV pulling up to the hospital around 3:05 a.m. Its driver got out, dragged Flanagan from the back seat, and then drove away, Deboni said.

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Police later found the SUV abandoned. DNA tests of blood found in its back seat and on a fence, a car, and pavement near Perez’s home all match Flanagan, Deboni said.

Investigators found casings from two different assault rifles and from Perez’s gun at the murder scene, Deboni said. The driver who dumped Flanagan at St. Mary’s, suspected of being the second shooter, remains at large.

Deboni said someone at the party sent Flanagan a message indicating Perez was wearing “chains and jewelry,” suggesting robbery as a motive for the crime.

Flanagan has been in custody on other charges since police located him at the hospital. Deboni said Flanagan made incriminating statements about Perez’s murder in jailhouse phone calls that authorities recorded.

He was on bond and electronic monitoring at the time of the alleged murder for a 2019 armed habitual criminal case. His criminal background includes two convictions for Class X armed robbery in 2008. He was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm while on parole for those cases in 2013, records show. In 2017, he received two four-year sentences for burglaries.

He’s now charged with first-degree murder and attempted home invasion causing great bodily harm. Judge Mary Marubio ordered him held without bail.

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