Trio charged with murder nearly 2 years after man killed during attempted carjacking on West Side

Nearly two years after a West Side man was gunned down outside his home during a carjacking attempt, three people, all teenagers at the time of the attack, have been charged with his murder.

Robert Johnson, 52, was standing beside his longtime girlfriend’s SUV after walking her to her car early April 7, 2020, when a white sedan with four people inside pulled up beside him in the 4700 block of West Fulton Street, Cook County prosecutors said in court last week.

Three people got out of the sedan and attempted to steal the SUV, with one of the men - Jimmy Walker, pointing a gun at Johnson, prosecutors said.

Johnson’s girlfriend ducked down inside her SUV as a shootout erupted between Walker and Johnson, who she found lying in the street with a gunshot wound to his chest after hearing the sedan speed away. He later died.

Walker, who was 19 at the time of the attack, was also shot in the chest during the melee and was taken by the group of carjackers to West Suburban Medical Center for treatment, prosecutors said.

Three minutes after the shooting, surveillance cameras allegedly recorded the group unloading Walker from the car. The group included the sedan’s alleged driver, Malik Boyd, who was 17 at the time, prosecutors said.

In an unrelated incident, Boyd was shot later the same day and taken to Loretto Hospital while still in the same clothing he was seen wearing in the West Suburban Medical Center surveillance footage, prosecutors said.

A then 15-year-old boy was also identified as being seen on the West Suburban Medical Center surveillance footage by Chicago police officers familiar with the group, prosecutors said.

All three were arrested March 15.

The fourth member of the group hasn’t been identified.

Prosecutors did not say during last week’s hearing why it took nearly two years to bring charges in the case.

Walker, now 21, is charged with first-degree murder, while Boyd, 19, and the now 17-year-old boy were charged with murder during a felony. All three also face attempted vehicular highjacking and attempted robbery with a firearm charges, according to police.

The 17-year-old has been charged as a juvenile and wasn’t identified.

Boyd was in custody at the Cook County Jail on a pending aggravated vehicle hijacking charge at the time he was arrested for Johnson’s murder, prosecutors said. Walker is also facing a pending unlawful use of a weapon charge, court records show.

Walker and Boyd were each held without bail and were expected back in court on April 5.