Sound Bar security guard was killed during shoot-out with patrons: prosecutors

Bail was denied Friday for a man charged with killing a security guard earlier this month after a shoot out outside a River North nightclub.

Armond Williams, 37, faces charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder in the shooting, which killed 28-year-old security guard Thurman Bailey and wounded a 58-year-old man who was struck by bullet fragments, according to Cook County prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Bailey was the first to pull his gun during the fight, which occurred shortly after midnight on March 8 in front of Sound Bar at 645 N. Franklin St.

The club has since been shut down by the city until it develops a new public safety plan.

Lakeisha Murdaugh, Williams’ attorney, said he has a valid FOID card and a license to carry a concealed weapon.

The March 28 shoot out allegedly stemmed from an earlier argument a member of Williams’ group got into with the club’s security guards the previous month.

On Feb. 28, the man went to the club with a group of women and was upset about how security patted him down before allowing him into the club, according to Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy.

When the man left the club, the women he was with got into an argument with security again, Murphy said.

The same man, who has not been charged, returned to the club with Williams and others on the night of the shooting, Murphy said. The group got into another argument with the security guards, including Bailey, and a fight broke out when the group attempting to enter the club knocked over a security gate.

Williams punched a security guard and another member of his group struck another security guard, causing Bailey to pull out his gun, prosecutors said. Williams, whose face prosecutors said was captured by video surveillance, allegedly pulled out his own gun and moved toward the security guards and fired four shots.

Bailey was struck and fell to the ground as Williams and members of his group fled. Williams handed his gun to another member of his group, who then fired nine shots, striking Bailey again and wounding the 58-year-old man with bullet fragments as he stood outside the club, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the person who fired the second round of shots at Bailey has been identified by investigators but has not yet been charged.

Bailey returned fire, getting off three shots, but didn’t strike anyone, Murphy said. Bailey, who lived in Bronzeville, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Prosecutors said Williams’ only previous charge was a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence, for which he was sentenced to probation in 2015.

Murdaugh said Williams lived in Villa Park and was working for Hartgrove Behavioral Health System, and the lawyer said Williams turned himself in to police.

Judge Michael Clancy denied Williams’ request for bail and ordered him held at the Cook County Jail. His next court date was set for March 29. Murdaugh said she planed to request another bail hearing at that time.

Following the hearing, Murdaugh said the guards at the club were dressed in black and had no markings that would identify them as security.

“We know that one of the security guards was the first to pull out a gun,” Murdaugh said. She said additional evidence will come to light that she believed would clear Williams.