A five-time felon accused of executing a UPS driver as he returned home to his Bronzeville apartment told police he was simply following orders when he opened fire, prosecutors say.
Eugene Rhoiney fired two shots at 49-year-old Wyatt Turner on the front steps of Turner’s apartment building in the 500 block of East 44th Street after waiting for him to return from work, Assistant State’s Attorney Kimberly Cross said in a detention filing.
According to Cross, Rhoiney, who has a lengthy criminal history including a federal firearms conviction, told police he “did what he was told and shot” Turner around 11:30 a.m. on August 22, 2023.
Surveillance video showed a stolen silver Volkswagen sedan arrive and park near Turner’s home on the morning of the murder. The driver got out and walked away, while Rhoiney remained in the passenger seat, smoked a cigarette, and waited, Cross said.
Turner, returning home from his UPS shift, parked on 44th Street and walked toward his building. As he crossed the street, Rhoiney allegedly exited the Volkswagen and followed him through a gate to the apartment complex.
As Turner walked up the stairs to the front door, Rhoiney removed a handgun from his waistband and closely followed him, Cross said. When Turner reached for the door, Rhoiney raised his right hand and fired two shots “execution style,” according to Cross.
Turner was struck once in the back of the head and immediately collapsed, falling over the side of the stairs. The second shot went into the front door of the apartment building. After the shooting, Rhoiney exited the gate and walked away, Cross said. Multiple witnesses saw a gunman placing a pistol in his waistband and walking from the area.
Investigators found the Volkswagen still running on the street with the key in the ignition. Police processed it for fingerprints and DNA, she said. Evidence technicians also recovered a cigarette butt Rhoiney had tossed out of the vehicle and sent it for DNA testing, prosecutors said. It came back matching his genetic profile, according to Cross.
Turner and Rhoiney had no known relationship, Cross said. She did not indicate who may have ordered the killing or what the motive might have been.
Rhoiney’s criminal background includes a 2017 federal conviction for unlawful transportation of firearms, a state firearms conviction in 1999, and four state narcotics convictions dating back to the 1990s.
Judge Shauna Boliker ordered Rhoiney detained as a public safety threat.
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