Carpentersville man charged with 2015 murder in North Lawndale

A 26-year-old Carpentersville man was ordered held without bail Friday for allegedly shooting a man to death in North Lawndale last summer.

Cook County prosecutors didn’t explain what started the argument but said that Timothy Ward was standing outside a van he had been traveling in with eight other people when Charzelle Hayes and others came up to him and his friends in the 3500 block of West Grenshaw.

Minutes before that morning on July 18, 2015, the van, driven by Ward’s wife, stopped in front of a home there because some passengers wanted to use the bathroom, Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Howroyd said.

At some point, someone from Hayes’ group punched one of the occupants of the van who had been standing outside with Ward, Howroyd said.

That’s when Ward allegedly pulled out a handgun and shot 25-year-old Hayes.

Ward and the others then jumped back into the van and drove off, Howroyd said.

Hayes, who was shot in the arm and chest, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Shortly after the shooting, police stopped the van and found a revolver containing seven expended shell casings, a holster and a box of ammunition under the front passenger seat where Ward had been sitting, Howroyd said.

Officers also lifted a fingerprint off a tray inside the ammunition box, which was later identified as Ward’s, Howroyd said.

Tests taken at the Illinois State Police crime lab later revealed the gun from the van was the weapon used to kill Hayes, Howroyd said.

Howroyd did not say why police didn’t arrest Ward the day of the shooting.

Ward eventually fled to Tennessee where he was recently picked up for a parole violation.

Ward, who is married with children, allegedly admitted to Chicago Police detectives that he killed Hayes, authorities said.

Ward has two previous convictions for robbery and aggravated battery to a police officer.

He used to work at convenience store and Pizza Nation in Schaumburg, according to his assistant public defender.