Murder charge dropped at hearing for Wisconsin couple charged in connection to deadly Homan Square shooting

Cook County prosecutors Tuesday dropped a murder charge against a Wisconsin man accused of killing his girlfriend’s brother during a fight over gas and toll money to get back home after they attended a party in Homan Square over the weekend.

Chicago police sought to charge Levoid Oglesby-Williams with Timothy Nickelson’s murder, but the charge was rejected by the state’s attorney’s office’s Felony Review Unit, sources said. Police then used a process known as a felony override to charge Oglesby-Williams with murder.

However, when Oglesby-Williams and his girlfriend Yerica Nickelson appeared for their bond hearing Tuesday, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy told Judge Mary Marubio the murder charge was being dropped “at this point.”

The felony weapons charges approved by the Felony Review Unit against Oglesby-Williams and Yerica Nickelson, both 28, were “based on the evidence and the law,” the state’s attorney’s office later said in a statement.

Chicago police didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Oglesby-Williams and Yerica Nickelson were arrested early Sunday morning, roughly 20 minutes after Oglesby-Williams allegedly shot Timothy Nickelson during what the couple’s defense attorney described as a “domestic dispute within a domestic dispute.”

Surveillance cameras captured Yerica Nickelson shooting a tire on her brother’s car when he tried to leave a party the three had attended after driving in from Wisconsin, prosecutors said.

Timothy Nickelson, 32, was then seen getting out of the car and throwing his sister against the vehicle before punching her repeatedly in the 1100 block of South Homan Avenue, prosecutors said. That’s when Oglesby-Williams allegedly pulled the trigger.

Timothy Nickelson, who was struck in the leg, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died hours later, authorities said.

Chicago police arrest photo

The couple’s attorney cited the “global pandemic” in asking the judge to set “minimal bail” Tuesday.

After Marubio ordered the pair held on $10,000 bail, the defense attorney said while Yerica Nickelson works as a certified nurses assistant and Oglesby-Williams is employed in a factory, they can’t afford to post the $1,000 bond needed for their release.

Marubio responded sharply by saying, “They traveled from out of state during a pandemic” to attend a party.

“These are very low bonds,” the judge added.

Chicago police

The three had arrived at the party in separate vehicles, and when Timothy Nickelson announced he was going home, his sister demanded money, prosecutors said.

Her brother gave her $20, but Yerica Nickelson said she wanted more, leading her to shoot his tire with a .380-caliber handgun that was later found inside her car, prosecutors said.

A 9-mm handgun believed to have been used to shoot the victim was also recovered from Yerica Nickelson’s vehicle when she and Oglesby-Williams were pulled over by police and arrested, prosecutors said.

Both guns are registered to Yerica Nickelson, who has a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon in Wisconsin, prosecutors said.

“She has a valid [permit] in another state, not this state,” Marubio said. “That’s why she’s charged with a crime.”

Yerica and Timothy Nickelson had domestic disputes in the past, prosecutors said, pointing to a previous criminal case against Timothy Nickelson. Prosecutors did not provide additional details about that case in court Tuesday.

Oglesby-Williams and Yerica Nickelson are expected back in court Jan. 13.

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