10 Months After Prosecutors Declined to Prosecute Him with Murder, Man Shot Three People on Sunday
The Chicago Police Department requested murder charges against Ishmael Simpson from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in December of last year, eight months after the homicide had taken place.
Surveillance footage of the murder and footage of Simpson’s arrest by Chicago police two days later for unlawful gun possession were used as evidence against him. He was supposedly dressed similarly to the murderer when police apprehended him.
Also read: Chicago Police Chase: A Southwest Side Crime Spree Ends In A Fatal Crash
Officials added that, in addition to other video evidence, they also uncovered a photo of a page of grand jury testimony on Simpson’s phone, which revealed that the murder victim had testified against Simpson’s group.
In December, though, prosecutors reportedly decided not to press charges against Simpson and instead directed detectives to gather further evidence.
The data from the state attorney’s public data site backs up the claims made by the source.
After charges against O.J. Simpson were dropped, Chicago police released him.
Prosecutors claim that on Sunday, Simpson and three other males drove up to a Humboldt Park block, exited their vehicle, and began shooting at random.
There were 3 victims of gunfire. Simpson was arrested by police after he reportedly left the scene while firing a pistol into the air.
Prosecutors only charged Simpson with unlawful gun possession on Sunday because the three gunshot victims declined to speak with police.
Even though the evidence against him hasn’t changed since December, prosecutors decided this week to also charge him with killing someone in April 2021.
An anonymous source said last week, “If they had prosecuted him [for the murder] the first time, he would not have been out there killing three people.”
After Simpson was accused of being involved in another triple shooting, we questioned the state’s attorney’s office about why it took so long to bring murder charges against him. A representative did not want to comment, citing “pending litigation.”
In addition, we inquired with the prosecutor’s office as to whether or not an inquiry has been launched into how a victim’s highly sensitive grand jury testimony made its way into the hands of his killer. No one from the office got back to me right away.
