Austin man charged with killing ex-girlfriend outside her South Shore home

Cook County prosecutors didn’t offer a motive for the murder at Dakari Grayer’s bond hearing Thursday but said he and 21-year-old Mariah Edwards were seen arguing just before she was shot on the morning of April 16.

SHARE Austin man charged with killing ex-girlfriend outside her South Shore home
Cook County Public Defender Amy Campanelli said her staff only learned in January that the “secret hearings” were taking place, and was shocked when a reporter told her the practice dated back 10 years.

A 32-year-old man has been charged with a fatal shooting April 16, 2020, in the 7000 block of South Clyde Avenue.

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An Austin man killed his ex-girlfriend outside her South Shore home hours after the pair left the scene of an accident they were involved in, Cook County prosecutors said.

Prosecutors didn’t offer a motive for the murder at Dakari Grayer’s bond hearing Thursday but said he and 21-year-old Mariah Edwards were seen arguing just before she was shot on the morning of April 16.

Earlier that day, Edwards was with Grayer in his SUV when he crashed into another vehicle in the South Loop, prosecutors said.

The other motorist was knocked unconscious from the impact of the collision, in the 200 block of West Congress Parkway.

Edwards, meanwhile, was captured on surveillance cameras stepping out of the SUV and walking away, prosecutors said.

Grayer also got out of the SUV and followed Edwards for a bit, but then he allegedly got back into his SUV and drove away.

Dakari Grayer

Dakari Grayer

Chicago police

Edwards’ friend who had video-chatted with her while she was in the SUV and after the crash said she saw Edwards get back into Grayer’s SUV, prosecutors said.

Then, around 2 a.m. Grayer called his friend and he and Edwards were picked up by that friend in a black Nissan Altima.

In November, that man told investigators he drove Grayer and Edwards to her home, in the 7000 block of South Clyde Avenue. He said he heard the two, who used to date, arguing after they got out of the car, prosecutors said. Then at 2:40 a.m., the man heard gunshots and saw Edwards on the ground as Grayer allegedly ran back to the Altima with a gun in his hand.

Officers patrolling the area also heard the gunshots and came upon Edwards, who had been shot twice.

The officers also saw the Altima driving away, but did not pursue Grayer, prosecutors said. The car was later spotted by other officers who followed it until it Grayer got onto Lake Shore Drive near the Museum of Science and Industry.

Edwards later died at University of Chicago Medical Center.

Prosecutors did not say why it took several months to charge Grayer but said cellphone records show Grayer and Edwards were in the same locations at the time of the crash and when she was was killed.

An assistant public defender Thursday pointed to the time that lapsed since the incident and Grayer’s arrest for first-degree murder. The defense attorney also stressed that all the evidence against Grayer is circumstantial or based on witness accounts.

Grayer is engaged and previously worked as a janitor before he was diagnosed with mental health issues, the assistant public defender added.

He currently facing fraud charges in two other jurisdictions, and has previously been convicted of fraud in Wisconsin, prosecutors said.

Judge Arthur Wesley Willis ordered Grayer held on $1 million bail.

Grayer is expected back in court March 15.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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