Man guilty of murder after leading Chicago Police on deadly chase

A South Side man who led Chicago Police on a high-speed chase after he burglarized a high school classmate’s apartment was convicted of the murder of woman who was killed when an officer crashed into her during the frenetic pursuit.

Cook County jurors were sequestered late Friday night after they couldn’t decide whether Timothy Jones was responsible for Jacqueline Reynolds’ death.

But after roughly two more hours of deliberation Saturday, the jury convicted 22-year-old Jones for the murder as well as the May 8, 2013 burglary that prosecutors said that kick-started the deadly chain reaction.

Timothy Jones, 22, reacts to a jury’s verdicts Saturday while sitting next to his attorneys at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago on Feb. 21, 2015. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune/pool)

Jones was acquitted on home invasion and armed robbery charges connected to the initial incident at the first-floor apartment in the 7800 block of South Ellis Avenue.

During the trial — the first in which cameras were allowed in a courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse—Jones’ attorney Keith Spence argued that the his client was not at fault for the officers’ recklessness during the chase.

However, assistant state’s attorneys maintained that Gresham District patrol officer James Sivicek’s would never have had bumped into Reynolds if Jones hadn’t decided to barrel through red lights and stop signs after committing a crime.

Jones, who took the stand in his defense, said he only went to Lee Davis’ apartment, because he wanted to pick up money Lee owed him from their joint phony credit card business.

Although the two attended Simeon Career Academy at the same time, Davis, 24, said he had no idea who Jones was when he barged into his residence with another man and took his cash, Air Jordan gym shoes, an iPad, an iPhone, and several bank cards.

Jones said he didn’t know there was a collision at 76th Street and Yates Boulevard as he drove away.

The former college football player also said he didn’t know that Reynolds, who was in her 50s, died until detectives told him.

Contributing: Rich Hein