Man found guilty of killing 311 operator a block from CPD headquarters in 2016

An 18-year-old man was found guilty Thursday of fatally shooting a 311 operator in 2016 a block from the Bronzeville headquarters of the Chicago Police Department.

Javion Harris was convicted of two counts of murder and a count of attempted murder, according to court records. His jury trial had begun Monday before Judge Slattery Boyle at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Harris was 16 years old when he committed the shooting on May 20, 2016. Just before 4 p.m. that afternoon, a 19-year-old man who also had been wounded in the attack flagged down officers in the 3500 block of South State Street, police said. Officers then found 49-year-old Yvonne Nelson lying nearby.

Nelson was not Harris’ intended target. She was struck once in the chest as she stood on the sidewalk near a Starbucks at 35th and State streets, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. She was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

Nelson had worked as a communications operator for 311 City Services since 2002 and lived in Bronzeville, about two miles south of where she was shot.

Police Supt. Eddie Johnson called her a “completely innocent” victim, which occurred about the same time as top police officials were holding a press conference at CPD headquarters to discuss a mass arrest of gang members.

“This incident right here highlights what I’ve been saying for the past month and a half about how brazen these violent offenders are,” Johnson told reporters after Nelson’s shooting.

The 19-year-old who was shot survived.

Harris was taken into custody a month later, officials said. Harris’ next court date is scheduled for Jan. 4.