#47: Twice-convicted gun offender shot man while on bail for another gun case and escape, prosecutors say

“Utterly outrageous.”

That’s how a Cook County judge summarized the allegations against Shaquille Sankey, who allegedly shot a man who tried to stop him from beating his pregnant girlfriend over the weekend.

“Adding insult to injury, he’s got a pending armed habitual criminal case and a pending escape case. Not only that, he’s convicted of two other gun cases before,” Judge John Lyke said after hearing the allegations.

“And,” Lyke continued, “he’s walking around allegedly with a gun tied around his neck by a shoestring.”

Sankey, who paid a total bail deposit of just $600 to get out of jail on the previously pending charges, is now the 47th person accused of killing, trying to kill, or shooting someone in Chicago this year while awaiting trial for a felony.

Prosecutors said Sankey, 28, went to his girlfriend’s apartment early Saturday to confront her about a man she had been talking to. Sankey allegedly choked and battered the woman in front of her roommate and the roommate’s male friend while an armed man who came with Sankey stood by the front door.

The girlfriend noticed that Sankey had a gun tied around his neck with a shoestring, prosecutors said. At one point, he allegedly pointed the gun at the woman’s roommate and the roommate’s friend and pulled the trigger. It jammed, according to prosecutors, and he ordered the roommate and her male friend to leave.

As they walked out the door, Sankey shot the male friend in his right buttock, prosecutors said. The bullet exited through the man’s leg.

On Saturday evening, police stopped a car for a traffic violation and saw Sankey sitting in the front passenger seat with a gun tied around his neck by a shoestring, according to the allegations. They arrested him for the gun and also knew detectives wanted him for the shooting, prosecutors said.

He is charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery by discharging a firearm, armed habitual criminal, aggravated battery of a pregnant person, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of a controlled substance.

In reviewing Sankey’s background for Lyke’s consideration, a prosecutor said Sankey paid 10% of a $5,000 bail to get out of jail on electronic monitoring for a pending armed habitual criminal gun case. He later paid 10% of a $1,000 bail to get out of jail for escaping the electronic monitoring, according to the state. He was convicted of illegal gun possession in 2014 and again in 2017, has failed to appear in court seven times, and has five domestic battery arrests in his background, prosecutors said.

Assistant Public Defender Courtney Smallwood argued that Sankey’s girlfriend was not pursuing charges in the case and said the couple has a history of being arrested for domestics. She said that Sankey, who is in domestic violence service class, has been working in loss prevention.

“He’s in domestic violence service classes,” Lyke noted. “He must be getting an F.”

The judge ordered Sankey held without bail.

Editor’s note: This report continues our coverage of individuals who have been charged with murder, attempted murder, or trying to kill a person while on bond for a pending felony case. CWBChicago began our series of reports in November 2019 after Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans publicly stated, “we haven’t had any horrible incidents occur” under the court’s bond reform initiative.

The actual number of murders and shootings committed by people on felony bail is undoubtedly much higher than the numbers seen here. Since 2017, CPD has made arrests in just 4% of shootings and 31% of murders, according to the city’s data. You can support CWBChicago’s work by becoming a subscriber today.

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