A man on electronic monitoring after Chicago police and federal agents allegedly found him possessing a machine gun and 170 stolen catalytic converters shot a woman in Humboldt Park this month while on “essential movement” outside his home as afforded to him by the SAFE-T Act, officials said. Deshawn Neal, 42, is charged with attempted murder.
Around 11:50 a.m. on January 21, the 36-year-old victim and a second person were traveling in a car in the 3900 block of West Iowa Street when Neal allegedly followed the victim’s vehicle and fired multiple shots at it, according to prosecutors. A CPD report said bullets struck the victim in both thighs.
The victim knows Neal and identified him, prosecutors said. Given that information, detectives contacted the sheriff’s office to learn more from his GPS-equipped ankle monitor.
“A review of Neal’s movement history showed that at the time of the shooting, his ankle monitor traced to within 300 feet of the scene of the shooting and then traced back to his residence,” a sheriff’s office spokesperson said. “Neal was not being monitored because he was on free movement when the shooting occurred. As a result, there was no location that Neal was not allowed to be. Under the SAFE-T Act, there are no restrictions on movement for EM participants during free movement hours.”
Chicago police arrested Neal this week to face attempted murder charges, and Judge Luciano Panici Jr. detained him Wednesday.
He was on pretrial release for a case that began in December 2023, when Chicago cops and federal agents investigating a catalytic converter theft operation executed a search warrant on a commercial garage in the 3300 block of West Cermak Road.
They allegedly found 175 catalytic converters inside the location, along with a rifle and a drum magazine inside a locked vending machine. The rifle was outfitted with a switch rendering it capable of firing automatic machine gun fire, prosecutors said, and Neal allegedly had the key to the vending machine on his person. A CPD report said Neal was “self-employed” and the registered leasee of the property.
State prosecutors charged him with armed habitual criminal and aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Judge Charles Beach, who has since become the county’s chief judge, ordered Neal detained.
Two months later, in February 2024, Neal’s attorney filed a petition for his release under the SAFE-T Act, arguing the state failed to provide clear evidence that Neal committed the crimes with which he was charged because Neal was an employee of the “auto shop” for six years and the vending machine key was on a ring of keys. Although the lawyer said in a previous filing that Neal leased the “garage and business” that police raided.
The motion also argued that the state failed to prove that the 175 catalytic converters were stolen or that Neal was responsible for their theft.
Judge Neera Walsh granted Neal’s release on electronic monitoring with permission to visit his child at Lurie Children’s Hospital “when necessary” and to enjoy “essential movement” two days a week as provided by state law, according to court records.
In July 2024, Walsh gave him permission to work at two housing service locations five or six days a week while on electronic monitoring. In January of this year, Judge James Novy expanded those work hours to six days a week, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, with additional travel time to and from the work location also allowed.
The shooting occurred at 11:50 a.m. on a Wednesday, when Neal had permission to be at work.
On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office spokesperson noted that cases like Neal’s led Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart to unload the county’s electronic monitoring program onto the chief judge’s office in April 2025.
“Sheriff Dart announced he would no longer operate the EM program because the drastic increase in the number of participants charged with murder and other violent crimes, in combination with the mandatory free movement and other changes forced upon the program by the SAFE-T Act, made it impossible to ensure public safety,” the spokesperson noted.
Neal is the first person accused of shooting someone in Chicago this year while on felony pretrial release.
The “not horrible” series
This report continues our coverage of individuals accused of killing, shooting, or trying to kill or shoot others on pretrial release for a felony allegation. CWBChicago began our series of reports in November 2019 after then-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 awaiting trial for felony allegations 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. You can see all of the “not horrible” stories here.
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