Are Chicago Heights Murders Related?
CHICAGO HEIGHTS, Ill. (CBS/WBBM) -- Police in Chicago Heights are trying to determine whether there's any connection between two recent shootings in the south suburb.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Regine Schlesinger reports, early this past Friday morning, a motorist driving by found the body of Jerel Bell, 20, lying in a snow bank in the 1900 block of Wentworth Avenue in Chicago Heights.
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He had been shot three times in the head, apparently execution-style, although police are not calling it an execution.
No charges have been filed and no suspects are in custody, police said, and they were still interviewing witnesses as of Monday. The South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force and Illinois State Police are aiding in the investigation.
Jerel Bell's older brother, Jeffrey Bell, 21, is charged in the murder of Marquetta Campbell, 26, who was shot and stabbed outside the Big Boy Submarine sandwich shop, after an argument at a bar in Matteson.
Jeffrey Bell is charged with first-degree murder, as is his girlfriend, Camille Brodanex, 20. A third suspect, Barbara Jackson, 21, of Park Forest, is charged with aiding a fugitive.
Police tell the SouthtownStar they are trying to determine whether there is a link between Jerel Bell's murder and the one in which his brother is charged.
Chicago Heights police Sgt. Tom Rogers said police had been familiar with Jerel Bell "for quite some time" and that he had been arrested before on drug charges for minor offenses.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
