Prosecutors have charged a 19-year-old man with attempted murder in connection with the vicious shooting and robbery of 23-year-old Dakotah Earley in Lincoln Park on May 6, according to court records.
Tyshon Brownlee is also charged with multiple counts of armed robbery involving other hold-ups that are part of a widespread robbery pattern that swept across the North Side this month.
Note: A full accounting of the state’s allegations against Tyson Brownlee is reported in this follow-up story.
Brownlee is due in bond court Tuesday afternoon.
Police turned their attention to Brownlee on May 10 after he was shot while riding in a car on Michigan Avenue near The Bean, according to multiple law enforcement sources.
Someone dropped Brownlee off at a hospital for treatment and investigators quickly found a “definitive” link to the North Side robberies. Two sources said Brownlee has possession of Earley’s cellphone.
Brownlee was subsequently released from the hospital. Police took him in for questioning on Sunday.
His social media footprint shows that he stopped updating one of his profiles in early April. But regular updates resumed on May 8, two days after a gunman shot Earley while demanding his phone passcode.
On May 10, about an hour after he was shot near Millennium Park, Brownlee posted to Facebook, “I’ll be back soon ❤️🩹💯”
During a community meeting in Lincoln Park last night, Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said a 19-year-old suspect who was being questioned in connection with Earley’s shooting had been arrested for five carjackings in the past two years. Hopkins did not identify the suspect by name.
“You could argue he never should have been on the street in the first place,” the alderman said.
Brownlee does not have any previous adult criminal cases in the court clerk files. Juvenile records are not available to the public.
Court records show he has a home address on the 1800 block of South Avers in Lawndale. That’s about a half-mile from where police recovered the stolen car that was used by the robbers who shot Earley. In a press release, CPD listed his home address in Oak Park.
Prosecutors have charged Brownlee with attempt first degree murder, armed robbery with discharge of a firearm, and four counts of armed robbery with a firearm. Judge Susana Ortiz is scheduled to preside over his bail hearing.
Note: Brownlee’s mugshot was not available at the time of publication.
Previous coverage
- Man, 23, critically wounded in Lincoln Park shooting (May 6, 2022)
- Video: Armed robber shoots man 3x in Lincoln Park after demanding phone password (May 6, 2022)
- 2 nights of armed robberies across Lakeview and Lincoln Park ends with victim critically injured by gunman (May 6, 2022)
- ‘This lawlessness has to be stopped!’ Alderman demands action after a man is shot, gravely wounded during North Side robbery spree (May 6, 2022)
- Lincoln Park shooting, robbery victim is identified in GoFundMe campaign (May 6, 2022)
- Robbers who shot a man in Lincoln Park also fired shots at another victim Wednesday, CPD report says (May 7, 2022)
- Lincoln Park shooting victim is on life support, family says: ‘We ARE NOT and WILL NOT lose hope or faith for Dakotah’ (May 7, 2022)
- 2 more men robbed at gunpoint in Lincoln Park overnight (May 9, 2022)
- Another armed robbery reported in Lincoln Park, Lakeview area this morning. Witness says a gunman threatened to shoot them if they helped the victim (May 9, 2022)
- Armed crews rob 4 more people in Lakeview overnight as violent hold-up pattern grows (May 10, 2022)
- 3 more armed robberies reported on North Side as cops explore a possible link to a shooting near “The Bean” (May 11, 2022)
- Cops find ‘definitive’ link between Dakotah Earley case and a shooting near The Bean: sources (May 12, 2022)
- At least 6 more people robbed at gunpoint overnight as North Side armed robbery surge rolls on (May 14, 2022)
