An Oak Park man already facing charges for a fatal drug-related shooting was involved in another murder while out on bond for the earlier incident, Cook County prosecutors said.
Tramian Barnes shot 19-year-old Alex Anderson in the stomach after the two had planned to meet for a narcotics transaction in 2014, authorities said.
Barnes’ latest victim, 17-year-old Anthony Heatherly, thought he was just going to sell Barnes and his cohort, Kenyatta Alexander, marijuana when he was killed on April 4.
Barnes, 21, was awaiting trial for Anderson’s murder, when Alexander shot and ran over Heatherly in the parking lot of Taco Burrito King, in the 5500 block of North Harlem, Assistant State’s Attorney Liam Reardon said.
Barnes was out of Cook County Jail after posting 10 percent of the $1 million bail Judge Donald Panarese Jr. gave him two years ago, Reardon said.
That spring afternoon, Barnes and Alexander got into Heatherly’s black Hyundai while Barnes’ girlfriend pulled up next to them in her Nissan, Reardon said.
Once inside the Hyundai, Alexander allegedly fired into Heatherly’s chest. Barnes and Alexander then pushed Heatherly out of his car and Barnes got into the driver’s seat and fled, following his girlfriend as she drove off, Reardon said.
When Barnes drove away, Heatherly was dragged several feet and run over by his own car, Reardon said.
Surveillance cameras captured the incident, and a witness identified Barnes and Alexander as the pair who got into Heatherly’s Hyundai, Reardon said.
After leaving the parking lot, Barnes and Alexander and Barnes’ girlfriend stopped a few blocks away, where the girlfriend had parked another car, Reardon said.
Barnes told the woman to go home and wait for them to call, Reardon said.
The pair ended up calling from Maywood, where the girlfriend drove and picked them up in an alley, Reardon said.
Heatherly’s black Hyundai was in the alley, Reardon said.
Barnes and Alexander got into Barnes’ girlfriend’s car and they were taken to a friend’s apartment in Melrose Park, Reardon said.
Barnes and Alexander allegedly told others what they had done. And Alexander made admissions when he was arrested earlier this week, Reardon said.
Cellphone records also show that Barnes and his girlfriend were at key locations tied to Heatherly’s murder, Reardon said. A witness also said he saw Alexander, 39, with the gun before the shooting.
Police have since recovered the license plate Barnes’ girlfriend had on her Nissan, Reardon said.
Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil ordered Barnes held without bail Wednesday for murder, armed robbery and vehicular hijacking charges.
Alexander was not in court because he was hospitalized after drinking bleach, a police officer told the judge.
When Anderson was shot, police said he told officers, “Tre shot me,”
Barnes, then living in Joliet, fled to Georgia before he was arrested in Anderson’s murder.
