CHICAGO — A missing parolee wanted in connection with a New Year’s Day shooting that left one dead and another injured at a West Town hookah lounge is back in custody. Jimmy Chamberlain, 31, was held without bail on Saturday afternoon by Judge Charles Beach, according to court records.
On parole for a 2010 armed home invasion that earned him a 21-year sentence, Chamberlain went missing after the shooting at Lyon’s Den, 2123 West Division. Chicago police announced in February that he was wanted on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Shortly after the shooting, Chicago police said a man tried to enter Lyon’s Den while brandishing a handgun around 1:30 a.m. on January 1 and then exchanged gunfire with the victims. Police recovered at least one firearm at the scene, an officer said. Officials have said the shooting was captured on video.
Austin McAllister, a 38-year-old father of six working as a bouncer at the Lyon’s Den, died. The other victim, a 26-year-old man, suffered a gunshot wound to his left calf and survived.
Police did not say how they identified Chamberlain as the gunman.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) called for the city to shutter the Lyon’s Den after the shooting, but then-CPD Supt. David Brown declined to take action.
Family members said McAllister was the father of six and a military veteran.
“He got hurt in Iraq to come home to Chicago and be killed, because he turned a patron away from the hookah lounge? He wasn’t out there partying. He wasn’t drinking. He was out there working for his kids and for himself,” McAllister’s sister told ABC7 in February.
Details about the state’s evidence against Chamberlain and where authorities located him were not immediately available because his bail hearing did not stream on the court’s YouTube channel due to a technical issue. CWBChicago has requested a copy of the written proffer presented in court from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office. We will publish a full update upon receiving it.
In addition to the home invasion he is on parole for, Chamberlain was convicted of felony criminal damage to government property and aggravated battery of a peace officer in 2013. In 2010, he was found guilty of aggravated illegal use of a weapon and a felony narcotics charge.
