Tzaddi Cox, a 35-year-old Marine veteran, stepped out late on a Friday night in May to grab carryout food for his family. He never made it back home.
Prosecutors say Cox was gunned down in Austin by two strangers who followed him as he returned from a nearby restaurant just after midnight on May 3. He was confronted in an alley near 1211 North Massasoit, where one of the men held him at gunpoint while the other rifled through his pockets, according to prosecutors.
Now, 19-year-old college student Jaden Pointer is charged with murder for allegedly helping set up the robbery and assisting the still-uncharged accomplice who shot Cox twice in the chest after Cox, a licensed concealed carry holder, fired a single round in self-defense.
Prosecutors argued that, even though Pointer didn’t fire the gun, he took part in the hold-up and should be held in custody pending trial. Judge Rivanda Doss denied the detention request and ordered him released on electronic monitoring.
According to Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Pekara, surveillance footage captured Pointer and an uncharged accomplice following Cox down Division Street before ducking into an alley to cut him off. When Cox reached the alley’s mouth, the pair allegedly confronted him, with Pointer allegedly searching his pockets and the other holding him at gunpoint.
What the two muggers didn’t know, Pekara said, was that Cox was legally carrying a 9mm handgun. A security guard and licensed FOID and concealed carry holder, Cox fired once in self-defense. The armed suspect returned fire, striking him twice.
During the brief shootout, Pointer was struck in the hand, prosecutors said. He and the accomplice fled in a red Nissan, tracked by pod cameras to a house on North Hoyne. Hours later, Pointer called 911 from that address to report being shot. He allegedly told officers he accidentally shot himself after finding a gun in an alley, but couldn’t remember where it happened.
Pekara said Pointer’s phone GPS placed him at the scene of the shooting, tracked his path to the getaway car, and followed him to the address on Hoyne. He also allegedly searched news coverage of the shooting and asked ChatGPT, “how to know if evidence has been recovered in a crime investigation,” hours after the killing.
When confronted by detectives, Pointer eventually admitted to taking part in the robbery, telling police he thought they were “just going to grab the guy’s food.”
Pekara argued that Pointer is a dangerous person, even though he didn’t fire the shots that killed Cox.
“He certainly posed a threat to this victim when this victim made the mistake of going out to get dinner late at night,” Pekara said.
But Assistant Public Defender Marissa Claxon said Pointer had no prior arrests and no intention for anyone to be harmed. She said Pointer cooperated with police despite threats to his life, describing him as a college student who had played football, worked part-time at UPS, and had a desire to continue his education at Chicago State University.
“He has led a very nonviolent life,” she said. “Certainly, this circumstance was very much out of character for him to even be in a circumstance like that.”
Judge Doss acknowledged the “horrible facts” surrounding Cox’s death but said the law required her to weigh those facts against Pointer’s background, his role in the crime, and his potential threat to the public. She found that the state had not shown, by clear and convincing evidence, that pretrial detention was necessary.
“You are not the shooter in this and I understand that,” Doss told Pointer. “For whatever reason, you decided that today is a good day to commit this offense.”
She ordered Pointer to remain indoors around the clock, without permission to enjoy two days of free movement each week that state law provides to electronic monitoring participants.
Sourcing: This report is based on the official court transcript of the defendant’s detention hearing, purchased through the generosity of CWBChicago readers like you.
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