Chicago law enforcement pressed the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in December to charge a suspect with a previous murder, but prosecutors reportedly turned them down.
There was a good amount of evidence against Ishmael Simpson, including a photo on his phone showing a grand jury testimony in which the murder victim had once testified against the suspect’s gang, CWB Chicago reported Thursday.
The outlet continued:
But prosecutors refused to charge Simpson in December, instead ordering police to find even more evidence, according to a source. The source’s information is supported by data on the state’s attorney’s public data portal. With charges denied, Chicago cops had to release Simpson.
On Sunday, prosecutors say, Simpson and three other men rolled up on a Humboldt Park block, got out of a car, and started firing. Three people were shot. Police caught Simpson after he allegedly ran from the scene, tossing a gun into the air as he fled.
However, the victims did not want to cooperate with officials; therefore, Simpson was charged with illegal gun possession in the Sunday incident.
“But prosecutors this week also decided to charge him with the April 2021 murder case, even though the evidence against him had not changed since December,” the outlet said:
Prosecutors in December refused to charge Ishmael Simpson with killing a man last year.
Even though the evidence had not changed, they finally agreed to charge him with the murder this week, two days after he allegedly participated in a triple-shooting.https://t.co/WQF7Q95TM5
— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) October 7, 2022
During the April incident, 18-year-old Jawon Ward was inside a barber shop in North Lawndale when a man entered and shot Ward multiple times before a second gunman entered and shot him again. Ward eventually died from his wounds.
A few days later, Chicago police arrested Simpson for illegal gun possession, and he was reportedly wearing the same clothing as the first suspected gunman.
Earlier this year, Simpson pleaded guilty to the illegal gun case and received a two-year sentence but was reportedly freed the same day he showed up at the correctional center.
Simpson was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and aggravated discharge of a firearm regarding the Sunday incident. He was also charged with Ward’s murder and Judge Susana Ortiz ordered him held without bail.
The news came as 33 people were shot and five died over the weekend in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s (D) Chicago.
Meanwhile, a recent survey found violent crime in cities across President Joe Biden’s (D) America rose by more than four percent during the first six months of this year.
“Compared to 2019 crime rates, some cities have seen a doubling in murders and a 36 percent increase in aggravated assaults,” Breitbart News reported on September 14.
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