Evidence paints a gruesome, if hazy picture of what happened: The shooting deaths of two women, a botched robbery and the paralyzation of a third victim. The puzzle pieces are just starting to fall into place as to why last weekend's tragic events (ABC 7 Chicago) took place.
Lead suspect James Amison, 37, was charged with murdering Stephanie Reed, his wife; the attempted murder of his father, James Johnson, who was severely injured from gunshot wounds; the attempted robbery of Far South Side nightclub and may yet be charged with the strangulation murder of Tashika Smith, with whom Amison had had a relationship.
Reed was found dead in her home from a gunshot wound. Her mother, Mary Reed, characterized suspect Amison as "a nice guy" and expressed confusion about what happened:
"He is respectable, always been respectable. I just don't understand what happened."
Neither did police, who found Smith strangled to death in her home just hours after Reed's death. But updates of the story (Sun-Times) suggest that Amison suspected his father was having an affair with his wife.
Before the two women were killed, Maywood police responded to a shooting at Johnson's home and found the CTA bus driver paralyzed from the neck down.
Capping off the shootings was Amison's alleged attempt to rob a nightclub, in which he was shot and detained. He's in police custody at the hospital.
ABC 7 reports on the incident:
Investigators say they are fairly certain that the two murders, the attack on Johnson and the robbery are connected.
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Crime Scene Investigation, general information (Crime Scene investigator Network)
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FBI Statistics on Spousal Murder (Fathers for Life)
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Need a Chicago Criminal Attorney? (FindLaw)
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