A shooting attack on two Chicago police officers last month marked the 19th time already this year that a suspect turned loose on pretrial release attempted to kill or killed someone while awaiting their court date, according to a report at CWBChicago.com.
Derrien Johnson was on pretrial release for two felony gun cases when he fired several shots at a passing police car on June 3. After reviewing surveillance footage, police recognized Johnson and arrested him. He has been charged with two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm toward an occupied vehicle and manufacture-delivery of marijuana.
Liberal Chicago prosecutors have been turning dangerous criminals loose instead of holding them until their trial date for several years. And in September of last year, Illinois eliminated cash bail entirely, resulting in dangerous criminals like Johnson being turned back onto the streets.
CWBChicago.com has been reporting on the trend since back in 2019 when Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans publicly stated concerning the city’s catch-and-release initiative, “We haven’t had any horrible incidents occur.” Following that statement, the news site has kept track of killings and attempted killings by suspects while on pretrial release.
What the media outlet has found should be concerning to all Chicago residents—even police and prosecutors. Here are just a few of the incidents reported over the past five years.
In May 2019, Kyrell Pittmon shot Mutasam Sulieman in the back of the head in a contract hit that was arranged through recorded jailhouse phone calls by one of the men Sulieman was prepared to testify against. At the time, Pittmon was on electronic monitoring for a gun case, and he was one of at least 13 people charged with first-degree murder in 2019 while on bail for a felony.
Just before Christmas 2020, James Armstrong shot three women, killing one. Armstrong was the 55th person accused of killing or shooting—or trying to kill or shoot—someone in Chicago while awaiting trial for a felony in 2020. The crimes involved at least 70 victims, 36 of whom died.
According to further records, in 2021 at least 73 criminals out on bail were accused of killing or trying to kill someone in Chicago. In 2022, the number topped 79, and in 2023 the total was more than 36.
As the news site points out, the actual numbers are much higher. According to city data, since 2017 Cook County prosecutors have approved charges in less than 5% of non-fatal shooting and 33% of murders.
While these murders and attempted murders might not seem like “horrible incidents” to Judge Evans and city prosecutors, it’s unlikely those living in Chicago’s besieged neighborhoods see it that way. I’m sure the families of the at least 119 citizens murdered since 2019 by those flaunting the city’s catch-and-release justice system since don’t see it that way either.
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