Victim's Dying Words Identify Killer, Prosecutors Say Updated 2 mins ago April 12, 2013 5:57pm | By Erin Meyer,
Enoch Jackson, 23, is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Darius Hatfield in November.
COURTHOUSE An alleged killer who prosecutors say was caught on tape saying "if that boy ain't die I'd be in jail right now for real" apparently didn't bank on one crucial detail.
His victim used his dying words to identify him, prosecutors said.
Before he died from gunshot wounds, Darius Hatfield, 22, told paramedics that Enoch Jackson shot him, prosecutors said in court Friday.
Jackson, 23, is now charged with first degree murder for the November slaying of Hatfield.
Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Michael Rusch said Jackson walked up to a car parked in the 6800 block of South Ridgeland Avenue on Nov. 28 and "began firing."
Hatfield, who was in the driver's seat, was hit in the chest, rib cage and thigh, Rusch said. He tried to run away but collapsed in an alley about a block away.
In his dying words to the medics who came to his aid, Hatfield allegedly identified Jackson as the shooter, Rusch said.
He was rushed to surgery but died.
Rusch said police also have a recording of Jackson talking about the shooting and how he got rid of his clothes and the gun afterward.
Jackson "made statements such as, 'I robbed, I stole, I killed,' " Rusch said. "And if that boy ain't die I'd be in jail right now for real.'"
Prosecutors also said Jackson bragged: "I play with guns, that's my M.O."
In 2008, Jackson was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon, for which he was sentenced to 18 months probation.
On Friday, Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois, Jr. ordered Jackson held without bail.
"You're dangerous; no bail," the judge said
Read more: Victim's Dying Words Identify Killer, Prosecutors Say - DNAinfo.com Chicago
32 Years for iPhone Thief Who Killed Woman During CTA Robbery
Updated 2 hrs ago April 12, 2013 4:21pm | By Erin Meyer and Quinn Ford
Prince Watson was convicted of killing a woman after pushing her down the stair at the Fullerton "L" stop after stealing an iPhone.
COURTHOUSE A man who shoved a 68-year-old woman down a flight of CTA stairs was sentenced Friday to 32 years in prison, following more than an hour of heartbreaking statements read by the victim's children.
Prince Watson, 18, who pleaded guilty to her murder and two counts of robbery, was reportedly trying to steal the Sally Katona-King's cellphone at the Fullerton "L" stop in 2011. She was knocked down a flight of stairs and later died.
"The cerebral bleeding was so bad that blood flowed out of [her] eyes like tears," Kimberly Katona said of her mother at the hospital. "I have to live with that image for the rest of my life."
Watson's attorney described the "wreckage" of her client's life: he was born in Cabrini-Green to a drug- and alcohol-abusing mother and his brother was murdered.
Katona said her mother also didn't have "an easy life."
Katona-King "went hungry" and suffered from poverty as a result of her father's alcoholism, her daughter told the court. Katona-King was sexually assaulted in a gangway by a stranger at the age of 8 and survived polio. Her second husband was shot and killed in an armed robbery.
Her mother, Katona said, "not only managed to survive, but she made her life good, despite the adversities."
Known for her generosity, Katona-King served as a deacon at Logan Square's First Evangelical Lutheran Church and tirelessly volunteered her time to the less fortunate.
Watson was arrested and charged in Katona-King's murder a few months after her death when cops caught Watson ripping off another "L" commuter.
Assistant Public Defender Susan Smith said Watson, as a child, had no "male role models except a couple people who were in prison."
"Nothing good happened in that courtroom today," she said. "Nothing good happened in this case ... It's like the judge said, he didn't go there with murder in his heart."
Judge James Linn sentenced Watson to 32 years, giving him credit for the two years he has spent in Cook County Jail awaiting trial.
The news of Watson's sentence and some needed closure in the case was met with relief by Rev. Eardley Mendis, who said he was glad to know the teenager would be off the streets and said he hopes Watson serves the full sentence.
"I hope he won't be able to come out and rob another person again," Mendis said. "For a person to lose their life just for a cellphone, it doesn't make any sense."
But Mendis also said society is also partly to blame for "disconnected youth" like Watson.
"It's very sad," the reverend said. "We cannot put the whole blame on him. We are all responsible."
Mendis said his congregation, which holds an annual memorial mass for Katona-King, will be glad to hear the news.
But the Katona-King's family said the pain that came with their mother's death has been long-lasting. Her daughter, Eileen Katona, said she became angry easily, taking her frustration out on her 9-year-old son.
Her son, David King, called her loss "devastating." He lived with Katona-King, and after her death lost his job and his home.
"Life as I knew it is gone," he said.
Read more: 32 Years for iPhone Thief Who Killed Woman During CTA Robbery - DNAinfo.com Chicago
it's the norm for everyone to be hitting 75-90. every now and again i see HP has someone pulled over - quotas i guess, but regular cops? they definitely don't care about speeding.
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