Man charged in deadly shooting outside Austin restaurant denied bond

A fight between two men turned deadly last month when one of the men grabbed a gun and began shooting outside an Austin restaurant, Cook County prosecutors said Wednesday.

Victor Turner, 27, initially got into a verbal confrontation with Sammy Hodges.

But when the fight turned physical on March 10, Turner went to his girlfriend’s vehicle, which was parked in front of the restaurant, and returned with a gun, prosecutors said. Turner then allegedly fired into the crowd that had formed outside the restaurant, in the 600 block of North Cicero Avenue.

A witness repeatedly tried to restrain Turner, who continued to fire, striking 43-year-old Hodges in the upper back and left thigh, prosecutors said.

Hodges was rushed to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.

The men were “acquaintances,” witnesses knew Turner and two people identified him as the shooter, prosecutors said. Additionally, another witness, who did not see the shooting but knows Turner, identified him on video surveillance, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors did not say what led to the fight between the two men.

Turner allegedly admitted to the shooting during a video-recorded interview with detectives, prosecutors said.

Chicago police records showed Turner was arrested Monday during a traffic stop after officers on patrol spotted a vehicle double-parked in an alley. Turner was subsequently charged with first-degree murder.

Turner recently worked at a Corner Bakery and a furniture factory and supports a young son with spina bifida — a birth defect that affects the spinal cord, an assistant public defender said at Wednesday’s hearing.

Judge Arthur Wesley Willis ordered Turner held without bond.

His next court date for May 28.