No bail for 3 of 4 men charged in fatal Skokie shooting

When Dzevad Avdic needed someone to rob, Jeremy Ly offered him a name, a prosecutor said Sunday.

It was the name — and phone number — of a 17-year-old girl from Skokie. Ly allegedly promised the girl would “give it up easily” if Avdic had a gun.

Ly was wrong. When he and four others finally lured the girl and 17-year-old Maxwell Gadau into a car under the guise of a drug deal last month in the 9200 block of Kedvale in Skokie, a prosecutor said she refused to be robbed, even at gunpoint.

So a gunman fatally shot Gadau in the back and shot the girl in the face, Assistant State’s Attorney David Mullner said.

Four men, all 19, have been charged with Gadau’s murder, as well as the attempted murder and armed robbery of the girl. Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas ordered three of them held without bail Sunday.

But a fifth suspect — the alleged gunman — has neither been charged nor arrested, prosecutors said. Skokie Police have promised to release a statement at 1 p.m. Monday.

Myles Hughes, of the 4200 block of West 81st in Chicago, and Nicholas Smith, of the 3800 block of West 84th in Chicago, appeared before Chiampas Sunday with Ly, of Skokie.

Their family members declined to comment after the judge denied bail for the men, but Smith’s attorney called him “a good kid” who is the son of a pastor and who cooperated with police. Smith told detectives he was aware of a plan to “snatch and run” before the alleged robbery began, Mullner said.

Avdic, of the 5900 block of South Honore in Chicago, was expected to appear in bond court Monday.

The prosecutor said Avdic texted the girl on Sept. 24 — after Ly gave him the girl’s name and number. Avdic allegedly set up a drug deal and, meanwhile, got in touch with Smith.

Four days later, on Sept. 28, Avdic allegedly called the girl and drove Smith, Hughes and the alleged gunman to go meet her, Mullner said. Ly did not go along.

When they arrived, Hughes and the alleged gunman got into a car with the girl and Gadau, the prosecutor said. The girl sat in the driver’s seat, and Gadau sat in the front passenger seat, Mullner said. Hughes sat in the back seat behind Gadau, and the alleged gunman sat behind the girl.

The alleged gunman pulled a handgun and demanded the drugs from the girl, Mullner said. When she refused to give them up, Mullner said the suspect opened fire, killing Gadau and wounding the girl.

The four suspects fled, Mullner said. But on their way to Avdic’s home, they allegedly shared an ounce of pot stolen from the girl’s car.

Mullner said the wounded girl remains in the hospital on a respirator. He said she will need to have her jaw wired shut and will require surgery to repair her jaw and vertebrae.

But the girl was able to identify Hughes in a photograph, the prosecutor said. And she said he was an accomplice of the person who shot her.