Man charged with murdering star athlete ‘simply for the taking of a pair of gym shoes’

The two men planned to steal a pair of gym shoes last August from an unsuspecting seller on Facebook Marketplace.

But instead of pulling off another “snatch and run,” one of them allegedly opened fire and killed Torrence Sumerlin, leaving without the Air Jordans he had come to steal.

Deshawn London, 20, appeared in court Thursday on a murder charge in the Aug. 20 West Side slaying.

London’s accomplice hasn’t been charged in the murder but was arrested earlier in March for two other robberies, Cook County prosecutors said.

Judge Susana Ortiz said there was significant evidence in the murder case, including three witnesses and phone data that showed London’s alleged accomplice arranged the sale under a false name.

“There was a gunshot wound to this person in their chest simply, it appears, for the taking of a pair of gym shoes,” Ortiz said before denying bail.

Sumerlin, 26, was an avid gym shoe collector and star athlete, his mother has said. He had gone to the 2400 block of West Polk that morning expecting to sell the Air Jordans.

London and the other person went to the same block, driven there by a person who said they assumed it was to buy weed, prosecutors said. The driver and two other witnesses nearby allegedly saw London and the other person wearing ski masks and walk to Sumerlin.

The third witness then saw London, whose dreads could be seen under his mask, pull out a gun and open fire and run backward with his arm extended, prosecutors said. The witness then allegedly saw the other masked person run up and try to get him to leave.

Sumerlin collapsed to the street with the box of shoes nearby, prosecutors said.

London was arrested Monday and told investigators that he and the other person went to the block to do a “lick,” and that he had acted as a lookout, prosecutors said.

London is also charged with attempted escape. While in custody, London briefly left an interview room in an attempt to flee, prosecutors said.

London has lived in Chicago for past 10 years, and had recently lived with his girlfriend, his attorney said. After graduating from high school in Little Village, he was a day laborer, the attorney said.

His next court date is March 28.

Contributing: Mitch Dudek