A man charged with shooting his 59-year-old father to death last July at his father’s home in Austin has been denied bail.
John Hearring was found dead about 1 p.m. July 15 at his home in the 1000 block of North Leamington Avenue, according to Chicago police and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
A friend who had visited with Hearring earlier in the day returned to the home about 1 p.m. and found Hearring shot and laying on the floor of his apartment, prosecutors said.
Multiple witnesses told detectives they heard gunshots about noon and had seen Hearring’s friend return to the apartment after the gunshots and then immediately run back out to call 911.
A witnesses also told detectives that they spoke with Hearring’s 34-year-old son, Lacharo Bridgeforth, outside the home after the shooting. During their conversation, Bridgeforth told the witness that he was inside the apartment earlier in the day and had given his father $50, prosecutors said.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled Hearring’s death a homicide after an autopsy the following day.
Detectives later found security footage showing Bridgeforth enter the apartment through a gangway from an alley around noon the day of the shooting, prosecutors said. No one else was recorded entering the apartment from the front entrance or rear alley during that time. Bridgeforth was seen leaving the apartment building at 12:38 p.m.
When interviewed by detectives, prosecutors said Bridgeforth gave multiple, inconsistent statements about being at the apartment.
Bridgeforth was taken into custody Monday near his home in Humboldt Park and charged with first-degree murder, according to police records.
Bridgeforth, who works as a security guard, is married and lives with his wife and three stepchildren, Assistant Public Defender Steven Stach said in court Wednesday. He could post up to $5,000 bond.
Judge Sophia Atcherson ordered Bridgeforth held without bail and set his next court date for Dec. 10.
