Man on bail for shooting his own son was found walking down an alley with a gun in his hand last week, prosecutors say

In January, when prosecutors told Judge Stanley Sacks that a man who was awaiting trial for allegedly shooting his own son in the leg had violated the terms of electronic monitoring, the judge decided to simply remove the electronic monitoring altogether and let the man go home after posting an additional $2,000 bail deposit.

Last week police arrested that man after they saw him walking down an alley with a loaded gun in his hand, according to prosecutors.

Darrell Frazier | CPD

Darrell Frazier, now 41, picked up his first gun case in May 2017 after he allegedly fired a handgun into an occupied car. Although he was originally charged with aggravated assault by discharging a firearm, possessing a defaced firearm, and other counts, he reached a deal with prosecutors.

In exchange for a three-year sentence, he pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful use of a weapon by felon and prosecutors dropped the other charges.

Then, in November 2020, prosecutors said Frazier shot his 17-year-old son in the leg when the teen started arguing about wanting to move out. While the boy and two other relatives were standing near the front door of their home, Frazier allegedly went to his room, grabbed a gun, then shot the teen in the back of the leg, fracturing his tibia.

Frazier was AWOL on a felony charge of driving on a suspended license at the time.

Prosecutors charged him with aggravated battery by discharging a firearm and aggravated domestic battery. Judge Arthur Willis ordered him held in lieu of $1 million and said he must go on electronic monitoring should he post the $100,000 deposit necessary to get out of jail.

But three months later, Judge Stanley Sacks slashed that $1 million bail to $50,000. Frazier went home on electronic monitoring and GPS by posting a $5,000 deposit, court records show.

In January, prosecutors told Sacks that Frazier was moving around without authorization while on electronic monitoring, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Loukas Kalliantasis. Sacks removed Frazier’s electronic monitoring altogether and told him to pay another $2,000 deposit to get out of jail.

Frazier paid up and went home.

Around 8:45 p.m. on May 27, cops on patrol in Austin saw Frazier walking down an alley with an “L-shaped object” in his hand, Kalliantasis said. As police approached Frazier, he wrapped the object in a hoodie and tossed it to the ground, then ran away, according to Kalliantasis.

Cops caught Frazier and allegedly found a loaded handgun in the discarded hoodie.

He’s now charged with two more felony gun counts, including aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.

During a bail hearing last week, Frazier’s public defender said he has a culinary license and had worked full time as a cook for two months.

Judge Charles Beach ordered Frazier held without bail on the new gun charges at the state’s request. He also held Frazier without bail in the shooting case until Sacks could review the new developments. According to court records, Sacks kept the no-bail hold in place during a hearing last Tuesday.

Frazier is the 52nd person accused of killing or shooting — or trying to shoot or kill — someone in Chicago during 2020 while awaiting trial for a felony. The alleged crimes involve at least 64 victims, 33 of whom died.

The “not horrible” series

This report continues our coverage of individuals who have been charged with murder, attempted murder, and shooting firearms 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 less than 5% of non-fatal shootings and 33% of murders, according to the city’s data. You can support CWBChicago’s work by becoming a subscriber today.

Previous 2020 cases

2021 “not horrible” coverage

2022 “not horrible” coverage