#66: He killed a man in August then shot a woman in December all while on electronic monitoring for felony gun cases, prosecutors say

Antonio Francher shot and killed a man in front of witnesses who knew him, escaped in a vehicle that he stole from a carwash where he worked, and later shot his friend’s mother in the face when she told him he needed to start paying rent to live with them, prosecutors said Wednesday.

He was on electronic monitoring for a pending felony gun case at the time of the alleged murder last summer. And he was on bond with electronic monitoring for the stolen motor vehicle case and a second gun case when he allegedly shot his roommate’s mother in December.

Antonio Francher is the 66th person charged with killing or shooting — or trying to shoot or kill — someone in Chicago last year while awaiting trial for a felony.

A summertime murder

Around 6:40 p.m. on August 21, Israel Luna and several of his family members were standing outside and talking on the 4700 block of South Wolcott when a red Hyundai Sonata pulled into a nearby alley.

Francher stepped out of the passenger seat, walked past Luna’s family members, nodded at a bystander with whom he played high school football, pulled out a gun, and shot Luna six times, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said. Luna, 19, died.

Antonio Francher is the 66th person charged with killing or shooting — or trying to shoot or kill — someone in Chicago last year while awaiting trial for a felony. | CPD

Francher returned to the Hyundai and fled the scene after exchanging gunfire with a concealed carry holder who followed him after the murder, Murphy said. He alleged that surveillance video and five witnesses would put Francher at the scene as the gunman.

Francher stole the Hyundai from a carwash where he worked, Murphy said. Surveillance video allegedly shows him drying it, then driving away.

Police found the stolen car one day after the murder with a green backpack inside. Murphy said that the bag contained identifications with Francher’s name and a juvenile criminal petition.

When cops arrested Francher for questioning in connection with the murder on September 5, he had a fanny pack with a gun inside draped across his chest, according to Murphy. A search warrant on a phone Francher was carrying revealed that it pinged near the murder scene at the time of Luna’s death, Murphy said.

On September 5, charged him with possessing a stolen motor vehicle and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Judge Arthur Willis allowed him to go home on electronic monitoring by post a $1,000 bail deposit. Murphy said Francher was also on electronic monitoring for a juvenile felony gun case at the time.

But they did not charge him with Luna’s murder.

So, Francher got out of jail, and he went to live with a friend’s family in Forest Park.

Rent

When he first arrived at the home, Francher showed off three guns that he said he stole from a Chicago gang member, Murphy said. He later sold two of those when his friend’s mom started asking for rent money.

On December 6, Francher was supposed to go to a job interview at Wendy’s so he could start paying to live in the house.

Instead, at a moment when Francher was alone in the house with the mother and her 2-year-old daughter, Francher shot the woman in her face, Murphy said.

Neighbors investigated after seeing the 2-year-old crying through a window. Murphy said they opened the door and heard the girl calling her mother’s name as the woman emerged from a bedroom, critically wounded and bleeding profusely. She is not expected to recover her eyesight.

Police arrested Francher two days later after they found him driving the woman’s car in Chicago, according to Murphy. Prosecutors charged him with attempted murder for her shooting.

They finally charged him with first-degree murder on Wednesday for allegedly killing Israel Luna last summer. Murphy said the state would be filing attempted murder charges for Luna’s family members, too.

“His age takes one’s breath away,” said Judge Maryam Ahmad before she ordered Francher 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.

A summertime murder

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