Prosecutors say a Chicago man on electronic monitoring for allegedly shooting a woman in 2020 got another gun and killed his half-sister’s boyfriend in their home Saturday night.
Kevin Bennett is the 33rd person accused of killing or shooting—or attempting to kill or shoot—someone in Chicago while awaiting trial for a felony this year. The alleged crimes involved at least 67 victims, 15 of whom died.
Kevin Bennett | CPD
Bennett’s half-sister had been dating the 29-year-old victim for seven years, but they broke up in June after she accused him of domestic battery and a serious felony, prosecutors said. The woman decided not to pursue criminal charges, and the couple reconciled last month.
On August 28, they moved into her mother’s Woodlawn home, where Bennett also lived while on electronic monitoring in the 2020 shooting case.
Bennett was vocally displeased with the victim’s presence and repeatedly told his half-sister and their mother that he wanted to shoot and kill the victim, prosecutor Karen Swanson said.
Saturday night, when the victim and his girlfriend returned from a birthday party, Bennett was waiting in the dining room with the lights off and a gun in his hand, Swanson said.
He allegedly called the victim a “b*tch *ss n*gger” and said the victim probably believed Bennett wouldn’t do anything to him.
Then, from about five feet away, Bennett shot the man once on the left side of his chest, Swanson alleged. The man died.
Swanson said that Bennett’s half-sister locked herself in a bedroom with her mother, but Bennett kicked in the door and warned her not to tell the police what happened. He threatened to kill his half-sister while racking the gun’s slide as if it had jammed, according to Swanson.
He allegedly tossed the gun through a window into an abandoned home next door and ran. The sheriff’s office found his electronic monitoring bracelet lying on the ground more than six miles from the crime scene.
Chicago police found Bennett under a viaduct in Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon.
Investigators recovered a gun from the abandoned home where Bennett allegedly tossed it. Also inside the abandoned house was a cat belonging to Bennett’s mother. It had a shell casing in its mouth, which police took as evidence, Swanson said.
Bennett is a four-time convicted felon, Swanson said. He was charged in November 2020 with aggravated battery by discharging a firearm for allegedly shooting a 29-year-old woman in the 6900 block of South Clyde three months earlier. The case is still pending.
On Monday, Judge Mary Marubio held Bennet without bail on a charge of first-degree murder. She also revoked his bail in the 2020 shooting case.
Bennett’s defense attorney said he has bone cancer.
The “not horrible” series
This report continues our coverage of individuals accused of killing, shooting, or trying to kill or shoot others 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 brought charges in less than 5% of non-fatal shootings and 33% of murders, according to the city’s data.
