Chicago — A fight in the River North nightlife district ended minutes later with one of the participants being shot to death while traveling on a downtown Chicago expressway, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Judge Charles Beach ordered Terry Reid, 27, of Evanston, held without bail to await trial on one count of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted first-degree murder. An arrest warrant has been issued for a second gunman who was allegedly in Reid’s car, according to the Illinois State Police.
The events leading up to the shooting began early on September 17, 2022, when a group of five friends arrived in River North for a night out. After parking their two cars, the group began walking toward the Hubbard Street bar district. Along the way, they got into a fight with eight men, including Reid, who had just left Joy District, 112 West Hubbard, an assistant state’s attorney told Beach.
A 38-year-old woman with the smaller group fired a gun into the air “multiple times” to break up the fight after a 19-year-old man in her party was knocked unconscious, the prosecutor said.
The five friends returned to the Jeep and Nissan that they arrived in and headed toward the expressway.
Surveillance video allegedly showed Reid getting into the driver’s seat of an Audi while holding a gun with a green laser on it. He followed the Jeep and Nissan onto the Ontario feeder ramp.
After Reid maneuvered the Audi through traffic to get next to the Nissan, the other man opened fire, striking the Nissan twice in the hood, three times in the driver’s door, and once in a tire, which disabled the vehicle, officials said.
Moments later, the Audi pulled up next to the Jeep on the ramp connecting the Dan Ryan and Stevenson Expressways. Reid and his companion allegedly opened fire on the SUV, killing 24-year-old Kyle Cowart in the front passenger seat. Another occupant of the Jeep suffered a graze wound.
Prosecutors said Cowart also had a gun and fired one round that did not strike anything.
Investigators used surveillance video from Joy District and cellphone GPS data to identify Reid and his passenger, prosecutors said.
Police arrested Reid two days later and allegedly found a gun with a green laser attached in his possession, but the gun is not the weapon that killed the 24-year-old, according to police.
His attorney told Judge Beach that Reid lives with his girlfriend and their eight children from previous relationships. He works two jobs and has no criminal convictions.
