Man charged with fatally shooting man he believed was having affair with wife

A 37-year-old man has been charged with killing a man last weekend on the Near West Side after he accused the man of carrying on an affair with his wife, prosecutors said Wednesday during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.

Leanthy Sims, of the Lawndale neighborhood, is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 42-year-old Raymond Figgers on Friday night during an argument between the two in front of a Salvation Army Community Center, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

About 11:30 p.m., officers found Figgers unresponsive and lying on a sidewalk with a gunshot wound to his head in the first block of South Campbell Avenue, Chicago Police said.

Just before the shooting, Sims confronted Figgers in front of the community center and accused him of the affair, Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel Crone said in court. Sims pulled out a gun and pointed it at Figgers, causing Figgers to raise his hand in front of the weapon.

Sims pulled the tigger, striking Figgers in the hand, Crone said. Sims then fired again and shot Figgers in the head.

Sims sped off in his car before officers arrived, Crone said. The shooting was captured by video surveillance cameras and a witness told investigators they saw the confrontation and shooting.

Figgers, of the East Garfield Park neighborhood, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounce dead, police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Officers recovered a single shell casing at the scene, but later found a second casing inside Sims’ car, Crone said. Preliminary testing on both casings found they were fired by the same gun.

Sims was taken into custody without incident Monday at a parking lot in the 10400 block of Natoma Avenue in Chicago Ridge, according to a Chicago Police report. His vehicle was also found there and the second shell casing was located on the driver’s side floorboard.

Judge Mary Marubio ordered Sims held without bail and scheduled his next hearing for Aug. 20.