Fourth person charged in beating death of West Ridge man

Bond was set at $1 million Thursday for the fourth person charged in connection with the December beating death of a man whose body was later thrown into a North Side dumpster and never recovered.

Armani Bearden, 18, was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder for the death of 64-year-old Cary “Mike” Silverstein, according to Chicago Police.

Shawndre Lehmann, 17; and Alexander Robinson, 28, were previously charged with first-degree murder, authorities said. Shatara Lehmann, 25, was charged with concealment of a homicidal death.

Silverstein hosted a birthday party at his apartment in the 6500 block of North Hoyne about 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10, 2015, according to prosecutors. The victim got into an argument with Robinson after saying derogatory things to his girlfriend, Shatara Lehmann, prosecutors said.

Robinson punched Silverstein in the face, then left the apartment to cool off. He later returned, and soon after, Shatara Lehmann’s brother, Shawndre Lehmann, and Bearden arrived at the party, prosecutors said.

Shawndre Lehmann, Robinson and Bearden all began punching, kicking and striking Silverstein with a metal frying pan. They eventually beat him to death, then made a plan to dispose of his body, prosecutors said.

Shatara Lehmann cleaned up the blood with water and bleach, and washed the frying pan, prosecutors said. Shawndre Lehmann and the others took off Silverstein’s clothes, tried to wash his body in the bathroom, then placed his body in two large garbage bags formed into a “makeshift body bag,” prosecutors said.

Lehmann then took the body and put it in a nearby dumpster, while Robinson and Bearden acted as lookouts, prosecutors said. Silverstein’s body has not been recovered.

Flood Waste Company, which handles trash collection in the neighborhood, said garbage from bins in the area is initially taken to a transfer station in Maywood. From there, it would have been taken to a landfill in either Rochelle or Rockford. Both landfills handle millions of pounds of garbage every day.

Silverstein’s family filed a missing person report Dec. 16. He had previously talked to his sister almost daily, prosecutors said, but she last spoke to him the day of the murder.

Detectives examined Silverstein’s apartment for blood, and traces were found in the kitchen and bathroom, prosecutors said. Several people had been living with Silverstein prior to his disappearance, and one of them implicated Shawndre Lehmann and the three others.

Robinson and both Lehmanns admitted to participating in the murder and/or cover-up, prosecutors said.

Two eyewitnesses identified Bearden as participating in the beating, prosecutors said. He admitted to being at the party, seeing the others beat Silverstein, and acting as a lookout and while the others disposed of his body and cleaned up blood, prosecutors said.

Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. ordered Bearden held on a $1 million bond in court Thursday.