An 18-year-old man has been charged with fatally shooting a woman he had arranged to buy marijuana from over Facebook — 15 days after recreational sales of the plant were legalized in the state, according to Cook County prosecutors.
Terrell Vining faces a charge of first-degree murder in the shooting that killed 20-year-old Sasha Moore on Jan. 15 outside a Gresham neighborhood gas station where the two met to complete the deal, Cook County prosecutors said.
On Wednesday, Vining was ordered held without bail during his initial hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
Prosecutors said records from Facebook show Vining, using the name “Chris Paul,” made contact with Moore after she advertised on Facebook that she had marijuana to sell.
After initially setting up the meeting at one location, Vining then changed the meeting to 83rd and Halsted streets, prosecutors said. When the two met, shortly after midnight, Moore brought along her boyfriend, who was the front seat passenger of her 2007 Chevrolet Malibu.
Neither Moore nor her boyfriend had previously met Vining before, prosecutors said.
Vining was recorded by video surveillance cameras waiting at a nearby gas station for a half hour before the meeting, prosecutors said.
Vining put his head inside the car and asked to smell the marijuana, according to prosecutors, who said that when Moore refused, Vining took out a handgun and shot her once in the head, killing her.
Moore’s boyfriend was able to reach his foot to the gas pedal and sped off as Vining fired twice more, striking the rear of the car and shattering the rear window, prosecutors said. Moore’s boyfriend identified Vining in a photo array and also provided detectives with Vining’s Facebook account, where Vining had posted photos of himself, prosecutors said.
An assistant public defender for Vining said he was working part-time for a temporary staffing agency and was living with his mother while enrolled as a senior at a downtown charter school.
Judge Charles Beach ordered Vining held without bail and set his next court date for March 23.
