Honey_Baked_Ham.jpg

‘Motive’ Episode 4: What really happened at the Honey Baked Ham

In February 1993, Eric Morro was shot outside a Honey Baked Ham store in Avondale. In this episode of “Motive,” T.J.’s old friend Larry Tueffel takes Frank Main back to the crime scene to tell him how it all really happened.

Chicago gangs: Real people. Real stories.

It was just after dark on a cold February night in 1993 when Eric Morro was shot to death. He and a friend got into a confrontation with two other kids. They were all standing next to a Honey Baked Ham store at 3018 W. Belmont Ave. when a gun went off. Eric was killed and T.J. was arrested. Larry saw it all.


You can listen to “Motive” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Spotify, and Stitcher.


Motive extra features

Get a look at the real-life people and places covered in this episode of “Motive.” Meet T.J., his mother Victoria and the family members, friends and lawyers who tell his story.

T.J. after his 1993 arrest

Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez was arrested in February 1993 in the murder of Eric Morro outside the Honey Baked Ham store. T.J. was throwing gang signs on Belmont Avenue earlier that day.

Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez was arrested in February 1993 in the murder of Eric Morro outside the Honey Baked Ham store. T.J. was throwing gang signs on Belmont Avenue earlier that day.

Chicago police arrest photo

Larry Tueffel

Larry Tueffel, pictured in a still image from a video recorded deposition.

Larry Tueffel, pictured in a still image from a video recorded deposition.

He was with his friend Eric Morro when he was shot to death next to a Honey Baked Ham store in 1993. Tueffel didn’t initially identify Jimenez as the shooter but did after being reinterviewed by the police the next morning. In 2006, he recanted, saying he lied, that Jimenez wasn’t even there at the time of the killing.

The Honey Baked Ham site today

In 2018, construction began on new condos at the place where the Honey Baked Ham once stood at 3018 W. Belmont Ave. The alley is no longer there, but the building with the peaked roof to the right was there in 1993.

In 2018, construction began on new condos at the place where the Honey Baked Ham once stood at 3018 W. Belmont Ave. The alley is no longer there, but the building with the peaked roof to the right was there in 1993.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

The corner where T.J. threw gang signs earlier

MOTIVE_10XX19_03.jpg

The northwest corner of West Belmont and North Sacramento avenues, where T.J. and his friend Larry Tueffel were throwing gang signs at a bus in 1993.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

The Latest
One protester said they were hit by an officer and taken to Thorek Memorial Hospital for treatment, according to a complaint filed with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
El joven se encontraba en el restaurante EL G-FE, situado en el 4253 W 47th St., a eso de las 2:30 p.m., cuando un hombre se acercó y comenzó a disparar, informó la policía. Fue hospitalizado en buen estado. Una escuela primaria cercana fue cerrada temporalmente.
La Municipalidad no ha ofrecido ningún plan sustancial para comprar la estación o proponer un emplazamiento alternativo antes de que finalice el contrato de arrendamiento de Greyhound en octubre, según el reporte.
Adidas announced Parker will help create a platform “aimed at influencing and elevating the future of women’s sports.” She’ll also oversee the brand’s women’s basketball products.
Action scenes thrill and the visuals stun in overlong but entertaining chapter of the simian franchise.