A man charged with the murder of a woman outside a club nearly three weeks ago in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the Far South Side was ordered held without bond Wednesday.
Darrick Wells, 36, faces one count of first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Claudia Mister on Sept. 3, according to Chicago Police. Prosecutors said his name was Derrick Wells.
The victim and friends were leaving the Black Cat Lounge in the 1600 block of West 115th Street about 2:45 a.m. that morning when Wells walked up and shot at them several times, Assistant State’s Attorney Joe DiBella said in court.
The 28-year-old woman, identified by the Cook County medical examiner’s office as Claudia Mister, was shot four times and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she was pronounced dead at 5:35 a.m., authorities said.
A man also suffered a graze wound in the shooting, DiBella said.
Investigators reviewed surveillance video which showed the suspect pacing back and forth in the parking lot of the club with a gun in his hand, DiBella said. Five spent .45 caliber casings were also recovered from the scene.
The day after the shooting, police released the surveillance images and a “concerned citizen” gave investigators Wells’ name, DiBella said.
Two eyewitnesses also identified Wells as the shooter, and a third identified him as the man pacing in the parking lot just before the shooting, DiBella said.
Wells fled to Iowa, where he was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service Northern Iowa Fugitive Task Force on Sept. 15, authorities said.
Chicago Police detectives went to Iowa and interviewed Wells, and he identified himself in a still photo from the surveillance video, DiBella said.
Wells was taken into custody Tuesday and charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors said he and Mister didn’t know each other.
Wells’ public defender said in court that he is married with four children, and lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Judge Maria Kuriakos-Cecil ordered Wells held without bond.
