Not guilty plea in murder of Officer Michael Bailey - Chicago Sun-Times

Not guilty plea in murder of Officer Michael Bailey - Chicago Sun-Times

A 24-year-old South Side man who allegedly bragged about gunning down Chicago Police Officer Michael Bailey pleaded not guilty to the officer’s murder on Tuesday.

Antwon Carter of the 1200 block of East 69th Street was charged July 26 with first-degree murder of a police officer and attempted armed robbery in connection with the case, in which Bailey was shot and killed just steps from his front door in the summer of 2010.

On July 27, Cook County Judge Israel Desierto ordered Carter held on $500,000 bond for an unrelated aggravated vehicular carjacking charge, a case in which he allegedly attacked a motorist at 75th and Cornell just days after Bailey was killed. He was later ordered held without bond for the murder.

At a hearing before Judge Stanley Sacks on Tuesday, Carter pleaded not guilty to the murder and attempted robbery of Officer Bailey, according to Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton.

Bailey, 62, was shot to death while cleaning his black Buick Regal outside his home in the Park Manor neighborhood on the South Side about 6 a.m. July 18, 2010, in what authorities say was a botched robbery attempt.

Sun-Times: Cops angry over delay in charging suspected cop killer

UPDATE: Read the original text of this post below, but I think it's worth sharing this ABC7 [VIDEO]

This isn't good at all!

The prisoner was questioned Thursday night and admitted to police and prosecutors that he intended to rob the officer July 18 when Bailey pulled his gun, they exchanged gunfire and he shot and killed the off-duty cop, according to sources.

They said detectives who have been working the case for the past year also have statements from eight other people to support their case and think they have a “chargeable case.”

Police were told Thursday night that the filing of any charges against the inmate would have to wait because Alvarez was leaving for a conference and vacation in Hawaii.

“He won’t be charged for two weeks — until she gets back,” one source said. “They want additional interviews done with witnesses whom we and they have talked to already. They want ’em brought down to the grand jury. Normally, they bring witnesses to the grand jury after they charge and before they indict. But they’re buying time until she can get back from vacation.”

Dan Kirk, Alvarez’s chief of staff, said that’s not the case.

“There are things that still need to be done,” Kirk said. “There are significant things that need to be completed in terms of the overall case assessment. Once those items are completed, we’ll be in a position to make a charging decision on the case. We’ll charge the case when the case is ready to be charged. It’s got nothing to do with whether the state’s attorney is physically in Cook County or not.”

The gall at this inmate at being bold enough to want to rob a Police Officer in uniform. I don't know if it's simple boldness or outright stupidity and then being willing to shoot back at someone who also has a gun. At that has a badge as well. I hope the state's attorney office will step up their game!

Inmate questioned in murder of Officer Michael Bailey

Tribune:

A 24-year-old prison inmate is being questioned in the 2010 slaying of Chicago police Officer Michael Bailey, sources told the Tribune.

The man was sent to prison downstate after his arrest last September on vehicular hijacking and weapons charges. At that time, he had been on parole following a 2009 conviction for aggravated battery to a peace officer and a 2008 drug conviction.

The man has not been charged in the officer's killing, and no one was officially calling him a suspect.

Bailey, 62, was shot early on the morning of July 18 last year while cleaning his new Buick — a retirement gift to himself — outside his home in the 7400 block of South Evans Avenue in the South Side's Park Manor neighborhood, police said.

It was duly noted and has been that Officer Bailey was still in uniform when he was attacked outside of his home.

Concerned Citizens of Chatham: Happy Memorial Day

 

Concerned Citizens of Chatham: Happy Memorial Day

Worlee not only honors the military on this day, but also Thomas Wortham, Michael Bailey, and Cory Ankum. The first two police officers and the last one a fire fighter.

Daughter to follow in slain police officer’s footsteps

The late Officer Michael Bailey's police star had been recently retired. And now the daughter is being trained as a police officer.

Sun-Times:

Nine months after her father was gunned down in his police uniform outside his home July 18, an emotional Jada Bailey and her mother carefully retired his badge to the Superintendent’s Honored Police Star case at Chicago Police headquarters Tuesday morning.

If the young woman gets her way, Michael Bailey’s star number 13970 will soon be replaced on Chicago’s streets with her own.

The 24-year-old revealed her courageous plan to follow in her slain father’s footsteps and take the police entrance exam after hundreds of brother officers in dress blues and Mayor Daley honored her father in a somber ceremony.

“I think that’s something that he’d be very proud of, to see that I’m doing something I was born to do,” Jada Bailey said as she held her mother, Pamela’s, hand.

Her father’s murder — one of three police slayings in a two-month period last summer, during a brutal year that saw six CPD officers killed — remains unsolved, despite a cash reward of more than $130,000. But his daughter, a police cadet, said the outpouring of love and support from his colleagues in the wake of his death meant she never thought twice about applying to the police academy.

“If it were not for him, I would never have seen a different side of the police department,” she said. “The police department is not only there for public service, but they have offered my family so much gratitude. It’s much more than people see on the surface — it runs much deeper — the way they extended themselves to our family, the way they honored my father.”

Bailey was just weeks away from retirement and had just finished working the night shift protecting Mayor Daley’s home when a gunman fatally shot him as he cleaned his Buick Regal outside his home in the 7400 block of South Evans in the Park Manor neighborhood. His family moved out later that month.

Unbelievable, $130K reward and still no takers!

New Search For Evidence In Chicago Cop's Murder

This story is two days old and would you believe that the reward is at $140,000 right now! Still no takers unfortunately:

Nearly 60 members of the Chicago Police Department Training Academy walked through tall grass and weeds on Friday hoping to find a clue that might help catch a killer.

Chicago Police Lt. John McMurray said, "If there is anything in these vines and bushes or anything we should be able to see it."

The police recruits were hoping to find evidence that might lead them to the person or people who murdered Bailey last month.
...
"We're out here doing a grid search based on info we have that the offender ran up this embankment and across the Skyway and down through that rail yard," McMurray said.

But the search ended a few hours after it started, with no significant discoveries.
...
Bailey's killer was last seen running from the scene south on the 7400 block of South Evans Avenue. Police believe he cut across an abandoned lot before making his way to the Skyway area they were searching on Friday.

I'm disappointed that there was no video provided with this article from CBS2Chicago.

Officer Bailey's family moves out of the neighborhood

The family of slain Chicago police Officer Michael Bailey has moved out of their Park Manor neighborhood home less than two weeks after his fatal shooting outside the residence, according to relatives, neighbors and local officials.

The officer's widow, Pamela, and his son, Michael Jr., gave away items from their home in the 7400 block of South Evans Avenue before departing Thursday, according to several neighbors. The family then placed large padlocks on the front door and gate and boarded up all of the windows on the lower level of the two-story home.

The rest of the story is here at Chicago Breaking News

Thanks to April Branch for this tip.

We wish the family the best, and pray for their healing.