‘Neighborhood cigarette man’ murdered over pack of smokes, prosecutors say

A 76-year-old grandfather who allegedly murdered the “neighborhood cigarette man” over a pack of smokes he refused to pay for never even got a chance to light up before he was taken into custody over the weekend.

When Jesse Howard was pulled over in his blood-spattered blue Cadillac 10 minutes after shooting 64-year-old Lawrence McNeal Sunday night in Brainerd, Chicago police officers found the unopened pack of Newports and a revolver on the passenger seat beside him, Cook County prosecutors said Tuesday.

The senior citizen later admitted to detectives that he shot McNeal and lamented that he should have robbed him of “all of his money and cigarettes,” Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Deboni said.

Howard had been buying his smokes from McNeal — who sold cartons and loose cigarettes in the area — for years.

Around 6 p.m. Sunday, McNeal made a quick stop near his home while driving a friend to pick up the friend’s repossessed car.

After he had parked his car in the 9000 block of South Laflin Street, McNeal was approached by a man who had stopped to chat, and by Howard, who asked to buy a pack, Deboni said.

But when McNeal handed Howard the Newports, Howard refused to pay, telling McNeal he could pay him the next day, Deboni said. McNeal wanted the money right away, but Howard allegedly walked away with the cigarettes and got into his parked Cadillac. McNeal followed after Howard.

Chicago police

The man who had stopped to chat with McNeal soon heard McNeal say he was going to break Howard’s window, prosecutors said. That man said he could see one of McNeal’s wrists trapped in the driver’s side window of Howard’s Cadillac.

The man went over to help and was talking with McNeal, who was working to free his hand, when he heard a gunshot. McNeal fell to the ground and the witness saw a bullet hole in the driver’s side window of Howard’s Cadillac, Deboni said.

Fearing he too would be shot, the witness ran and hid behind a bush while Howard sat in the Cadillac for several minutes before driving away, Deboni said. The man, who could see Howard was the only person inside the Cadillac, then called 911.

McNeal suffered a gunshot wound to his head and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died hours later.

Howard was pulled over blocks away by a responding officer. He was identified by the man who witnesses the shooting and McNeal’s friend, Deboni said.

Assistant public defender Margaret Domin argued that denying Howard bail “could be a death sentence” since there was a possibility he might catch COVID-19 while awaiting trial in Cook County Jail.

Judge Susana Ortiz ordered Howard held without bail anyway.

Howard, a retired longtime factory worker, has a large extended family, including three grandchildren, Domin said.

He is expected back in court Nov. 16.