3 juries hear evidence against 3 defendants in shooting that killed retired CFD Lt. Dwain Williams
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The criminal trial was under way this week against the three men accused of shooting and killing a retired Chicago firefighter during an attempted carjacking.
On Dec. 3, 2020, retired Chicago Fire Lt. Dwain Williams, 65, was shot and killed as he was targeted for his red Jeep.
Williams leaving his favorite popcorn store, Let's Get Poppin popcorn store at 11758 S. Western Ave. in Morgan Park. He was walking to his Jeep, when a stolen four-door dark-colored sedan pulled up and four males got out and bum rushed him.
The carjackers fired at Williams, and Williams returned fire with his legally-possessed weapon. Williams was shot in the abdomen and was later pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
The trial for three young men charged in his murder started up Monday. A fourth alleged carjacker, David Williams, testified against the others.
Jurors heard David Williams' testimony Monday. He is considered the star witness in the trial – testifying against the other defendants after accepting a plea deal.
David Williams was 15 at the time of the shooting that killed Fire Lt. Williams – and was originally charged as a juvenile.
Lt. Williams was leaving Let's Get Poppin' around 2 p.m. that Thursday in December 2020 when he was ambushed. It was all caught on surveillance video – and it all happened fast.
The video shows Williams, popcorn bag in hand, heading to his Jeep - when a car pulls up quickly and three men get out. Williams pulls out his own gun, and shots are fired at him immediately.
As he shoots back, three attackers are in the video – with the fourth behind the wheel of a stolen car.
The shots killed Dwain Williams.
Police spent weeks finding the four men involved.
Three of those men - Devin Barron, Dwain Johnson, and Jaylen Saulsberry – are each on trial, charged with first-degree murder.
Each of the three defendants has been assigned his own separate jury - a move allowing each of them to present difference defenses without the need for three independent trials.
"There's going to be different evidence against each one of those three. Sometimes it's prejudicial against one, but not the other two, or vice versa," said CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller. "So you have to make sure that the jury that's doing the individual defendant only hears the evidence that applies to that particular defendant."
But a courtroom packed with three different juries isn't common here. Miller told us just how rare it is.
"I don't think we've ever had a triple jury here in Cook County, or even the State of Illinois," Miller said. "We've had a lot of double juries. We've had double juries plus a third defendant, his case being decided by the judge – a bench trial. But that's the closest we've ever come to a triple jury."
Molina is told the trial is expected to continue into next week.