Rantoul, Illinois, man ordered held charged in deadly October shooting near Chicago's United Center
CHICAGO (CBS) — A man was ordered held Monday morning charged in connection with a deadly shooting during a robbery near the United Center back in October.
Deron Wolfe, 19, from Rantoul, Illinois, was arrested on Friday just after 4 p.m. in the 1100 block of North Falcon Drive in the Champaign County municipality. He was charged with one felony count of murder and one felony count of armed robbery.
Chicago police said that Wolfe was identified as one of the suspects who shot and killed an 18-year-old man in the 100 block of North Wolcott Avenue on Oct. 20. The victim was identified as Jesse Kendall, a student of Elgin School District U-46. Two other teens were also shot.
Police said the shooting was the result of an apparent attempted robbery that happened outside of the United Center—just as Chicago rapper Lil Durk was about to hit the stage.
The Cook County State's Attorney's office said Wolfe, along with three others wearing ski masks, targeted Kendall, who was with four other friends who came in from the suburbs to watch this concert.
The other two shooting victims were taken to Storger Hospital of Cook County—a 15-year-old boy was hit in the hand and suffered a graze wound to the abdomen and was in good condition. A 19-year-old man was hit in the ribs and was taken in critical condition. No weapon was recovered at the scene.
It was revealed Monday that Wolfe was also shot during a struggle with Kendall, according to the state's attorney. He was also taken to Stroger after he was found near the scene. He told police that he was attacked.
One of the victims, who was Kendall's girlfriend, had a pink vape and lipgloss in her possession that was taken during the incident. That vape was later found on Wolfe at the hospital—tying him to the crime scene. Victims confirmed the vape was hers, and further testing on it determined vast amounts of her DNA on it.
Prosecutors said about two weeks after the shooting, Wolfe sent a message to another user on Instagram asking if they knew where his gun was. When asked about the vape and how he was shot, his story changed multiple times.
Wolfe, who has no criminal background, was ordered to be held behind bars due to the severity of the case despite a public defender plea for a pre-trial release.
He is due back in court on Feb. 18.
