Charges Dropped In Triple Murder Outside Chatham Bakery
CHICAGO (STMW) -- Prosecutors have dropped charges against a 17-year-old accused of killing three people outside a South Side bakery in November, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office announced Friday.
Nicko Grayson was accused of killing three people Nov. 5, including a young mother who had just returned to a car with a cake for her 2-year-old daughter's birthday.
Prosecutors had said on Nov. 5, 2011, that Grayson, wearing black pants and a black hoodie, ran up to her car, reached in and kept firing, killing Chanda Thompson, 21; Cortez Champion; and another passenger, Shawn Russell.
Grayson was charged Nov. 7 with the murders.
Thompson was hit in the neck and back, and the two men were shot in the head and back as they sat in a parking lot in the 400 block of East 87th Street near A Piece of Cake Bakery shortly after 5 p.m.
"While the charges against Grayson were brought in good faith based on witness accounts and identifications, additional information has developed during the ongoing investigation that warranted dismissal of the murder charges against Grayson at this time," a statement from the State's Attorney's office said.
"The murders of Cortez Champion, Shawn Russell and Chanda Thompson remain a continuing investigation being conducted by the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County State's Attorney's Office."
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
