CHICAGO — Chicago police officers who responded to a ShotSpotter gunfire detection alert last week found a 43-year-old woman dead in a South Side alley. On Friday, prosecutors charged a man with her murder.
Mario Fullilove, 25, was ordered held without bail by Judge William Fahy on a charge of first-degree murder. Fullilove had been on bail for a pending burglary case, making him the fourth person to be accused of killing or trying to kill someone in Chicago this year while awaiting trial for a felony.
Investigators compiled video footage that showed Fullilove walking with the woman late on March 28 near the 7900 block of South Vincennes, Assistant State’s Attorney Anne McCord told Fahy. The two had been in a “brief dating relationship,” she said, and some video showed Fullilove carrying a gun in his right hand as they walked.
At 1:03 a.m. on March 29, a Chicago police ShotSpotter device detected seven rounds fired in the 7900 block of South Vincennes, McCord said. Officers found the woman Fullilove had been walking with lying unresponsive at the location ShotSpotter provided. She had been shot several times throughout her body.
Video showed Fullilove running from the area, jumping a fence, and throwing his clothes into a garbage can after the shooting, according to McCord. He returned to the garbage can and retrieved the clothes a few minutes later, leaving a balaclava behind.
McCord said two people who are “well acquainted with” Fullilove identified him from video images.
Fullilove’s defense attorney argued that testing of a jacket that he allegedly wore during the shooting came back negative for gunshot residue. But Fahy, the judge, found the voluminous video evidence persuasive enough to grant the state’s no-bail request.
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.
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