CHICAGO — A man and woman are charged with murdering an 18-year-old woman and injuring her companion during a drug transaction in the South Loop over the weekend. Prosecutors said Jeremiah Jordan, 24, and Shanna Walton-Smith, 19, had a prearranged signal that Walton-Smith used to indicate that it was time for Jordan to start shooting.
Chicago police initially believed that Deshaunte Holly and the 38-year-old man she was with were shot in a drive-by. But further investigation revealed that was not the case, according to a proffer filed by Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Pekara during a detention hearing for Jordan and Walton-Smith on Monday.
Holly and Walton-Smith agreed to meet near the intersection of Michigan Avenue and 21st Street to complete a narcotics transaction, according to Pekara. He said Jordan and Walton-Smith arrived first.
When the victims showed up, Walton-Smith, wearing a sweatshirt with the number “88” on it, got into their back seat while Jordan waited in the driver’s seat of a red SUV.
After a couple of minutes, Jordan pulled the SUV next to the victims’ car, blocking it in. Then, as Holly reached into the back seat, Walton-Smith nodded at Jordan, their “prearranged signal” for him to start shooting, according to Pekara.
Jordan allegedly began shooting from the SUV, firing rounds through the victims’ windshield. Holly was struck several times and died. The man suffered a gunshot wound to his hand.
Pekara said the male victim threw his car into reverse to try to escape, but he crashed into a parked car and had to run away on foot. He hid behind nearby cars until Jordan and Walton-Smith fled in the SUV.
The man immediately ran to a nearby intersection and flagged down a passing patrol car.
Using CPD surveillance cameras and the city’s license plate reader network, the police identified the gunman’s car, determined it was registered to Jordan’s mother, and located it in less than an hour near 59th Street and Wells, Pekara’s filing said.
Patrol officers caught up with the SUV, which sped away from them and tried to escape until it became disabled. The police arrested Jordan, who was driving, and Walton-Smith, who was still wearing a sweatshirt with the number “88” on it, according to Pekara.
A 9-millimeter handgun in the SUV’s center console was sent to a lab for testing. Preliminary results indicate it is the weapon that expended four shell casings found at the shooting scene.
Pekara said GPS records show that phones recovered from Jordan and Walton-Smith were in the area of 21st and Michigan around the time of the shooting.
During questioning, Walton-Smith admitted to being in the victims’ car to complete a drug transaction, but she claimed Holly pulled a gun on her, according to Pekara. But, the veteran prosecutor said, the police did not find any weapons inside the victims’ car or in the area around the vehicle where the male victim fled after being shot.
Jordan, Pekara said, also made a phone call from the police station in which he admitted to firing a gun. He is on first-time weapon offender probation for a 2023 gun case.
Judge Antara Rivera ordered Jordan and Walton-Smith detained pending trial.
They are both charged with first-degree murder, murder, and attempted murder. Jordan is also charged with aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon and misdemeanor fleeing.
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