CHICAGO — Less than a month ago, we introduced you to Marquez “Smoke” Robinson after prosecutors accused him of being part of a prolific burglary crew that either used chains to rip the doors off targeted businesses or gained entry by ramming the stores with stolen vehicles. As it turns out, much bigger problems were about to come Robinson’s way.
Federal officials this week said he was one of three gunmen who murdered a man after following him home from the Leighton Criminal Courthouse at 26th and California on January 31.
The murder victim is Eric Vaughn, a 28-year-old who was on electronic monitoring for a machine gun possession case. He went to the courthouse that morning for a routine status hearing, according to court records.
Unbeknownst to him, federal officials say, Robinson and his accomplices were circling the courthouse and jail complex in two cars, waiting for him to come out. Robinson’s phone, which Chicago police were already monitoring as part of the burglary investigation, pinged less than a mile from the courthouse, an FBI agent said in a federal complaint.
After court, as Vaughn arrived home in the 8300 block of South Morgan, Morgan and two unidentified men jumped out of a silver Nissan Maxima to kill him. A witness recorded part of the shooting on video, showing three armed men near Vaughn’s body on the sidewalk, according to the agent. She said one of Robinson’s accomplices shot Vaughn twice with a mini-AK47 firearm even after Vaughn had fallen motionless to the sidewalk.
Chicago police recovered 52 shell casings from the scene. The next day, Vaughn’s neighbor contacted police to turn in another 18 casings they found in some bushes.
The agent hedged her bets just a little, writing that she couldn’t definitively say Robinson fired any of those 70 shots, but “I also know it is not likely that a participant would be outside of the safety of a vehicle without a firearm during a shooting of this kind.”
About 30 minutes after the shooting, the killers’ stolen Nissan Maxima was found burning in suburban Dixmoor, the agent said.
When Chicago cops arrested Robinson for the burglary case, they also executed a search warrant at his home. They allegedly found a gray hooded sweatsuit with black striping that matches one worn by the gunman officials believe to be Robinson. The FBI agent cited a variety of videos, phone location histories, and license plate reader data to support her allegations.
Technically, Robinson has not been charged with Vaughn’s murder in either state or federal court. The feds are charging him with being a felon in possession of ammunition.
“From the sounds of gunfire captured on the video, when compared with the position of the suspects in the video at the same time and with the location of shell casings recovered by CPD at the scene, there is probable cause to believe that Robinson, a convicted felon, used a firearm during the shooting and therefore knowingly possessed ammunition,” the FBI agent explained.
