Two charged with murder for 2013 Chatham shooting

Louis Smith / photo from Chicago Police

The second man charged with being part of a group that beat a man and shot him dead in Chatham last year was ordered held without bond on Friday.

Louis Smith, 25, of the 6700 block of South Lafayette, was charged with two counts of murder and mob action for the Dec. 21, 2013 attack, police said.

Lamont Jackson, 24, was charged earlier this week with first-degree murder and Judge James Brown ordered him held on $1 million bond during a Thursday court hearing.

On Dec. 21, 2013, Leroy Griffin was walking with an acquaintance to a gas station near 79th and State streets when a green vehicle stopped nearby, prosecutors said Thursday.

Lamont Jackson / photo from Chicago Police

Jackson and six others exited the vehicle and approached Griffin and his acquaintance because they believed the pair were members of a rival gang responsible for killing a friend, prosecutors said.

The group beat Griffin while a gunman chased his acquaintance, who escaped by hiding in a gangway, prosecutors said.

The gunman then returned to where the group was beating Griffin and shot him once in the head, prosecutors said.

Griffin, 18, of the 7500 block of South Langley Avenue, was pronounced dead a short time later at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

After the shooting, the group got back in the green vehicle and fled the scene, prosecutors said.

Jackson was arrested this week and admitted to being part of the beating, prosecutors said. Video footage also allegedly shows him exiting the green vehicle prior to the attack.

A judge on Friday ordered Smith held without bond, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s office. He had violated terms of his probation, records show.

Prosecutors noted that Jackson was previously convicted of battery in 2006 and unlawful use of a weapon in 2013.

The other attackers have not yet been charged for the killing.