A man who was arrested two times while on bail for murder and attempted murder in connection with a Rogers Park shooting has reached a plea deal.
Deandre Loveless and another man were trying to shoot the passenger in a car on the 1500 block of West Morse when they instead shot the vehicle’s driver, 42-year-old Carla Martinez, on September 26, 2015, prosecutors said.
Martinez was paralyzed from the neck down, and doctors amputated her legs due to complications from injuries she suffered when she crashed the car after being shot. The intended target, a 19-year-old man, was shot in his ankle.
After Martinez crashed, a third person emerged from her car and shot back at Loveless and the other man, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said he identified Loveless and the other man as the shooters after police arrested him. He eventually received a six-year sentence.
Loveless and the other man were charged with attempted murder in 2016. Prosecutors upgraded the charges to first-degree murder after Martinez died in April 2020 from injuries she suffered in the shooting. A bullet recovered from near her spine matched a gun found that police later found in the co-defendant’s possession, prosecutors alleged.
Around the same time, a judge lowered Loveless’ bail from $1 million to $150,000 due to concerns about the emergence of COVID-19 at Cook County jail, according to court records. He went home on electronic monitoring by posting 10% of the bail.
In September 2020, officials inspected his home monitoring site and allegedly found evidence of marijuana distribution. They took him into custody.
The following month, prosecutors upgraded the charges against Loveless and his co-defendant to first-degree murder in connection with Martinez’s death. Judge David Navarro ordered both men held without bail on the new charges.
Loveless continued to be held without bail for about four months until Judge Thomas Hennelly agreed to reduce bail to $200,000 on February 17, 2021. Loveless walked out of jail the same day — without electronic monitoring this time — after posting a 10% deposit, court records show.
Police arrested Loveless again on September 30, 2021, after allegedly seeing him sell drugs on a Rogers Park street corner. Prosecutors said he had a baggie containing suspected crack in his waistband along with $233 cash. Once again, he was jailed and held without bail.
The murder case has finally concluded. Loveless and the other man, 25-year-old John Parker, have each pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder, according to court records.
Judge Joanne Rosado sentenced both men to eight years in prison. Prosecutors dropped multiple felonies that the men faced, including first-degree murder, aggravated battery by discharging a firearm, and multiple counts of attempted murder. They previously dropped the drug charges.
Loveless and Parker men were taken to Stateville Correctional Center on Tuesday. They will receive credit for their time in custody, including on electronic monitoring. Their anticipated parole dates have not yet been announced.