Mistrial For Suspect In Robbery Of Antoine Walker
CHICAGO (STMW) -- Jurors deliberated for more than seven hours before a Cook County judge declared a mistrial Friday night in the case of a man accused of tying up former NBA star Antoine Walker and his assistant in an armed home invasion three years go.
Demorris Hill, 28, is one of four men charged in the July 9, 2007, armed robbery and home invasion of Walker's River North home.
A jury began deliberating his case about 1:20 p.m. Friday and at 3:30 p.m. requested a transcript of co-defendant Phillip Allison's testimony, Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said.
But by 9 p.m. Judge Kenneth Wadas declared a hung trial, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Mark Shlifka said.
"The jury said they were hopelessly deadlocked and further deliberations would not help them," Shlifka said.
Still, Shlifka said the state plans to re-prosecute Hill.
Hill's co-defendant Phillip Allison testified against him on Thursday. Shlifka said Allison's testimony was "consistent and credible," which he reiterated in closing statements.
On Wednesday, Walker testified, detailing his account of the attack.
"I just wanted to follow directions and keep my head down," he said.
Walker testified he was in his garage sitting in his Cadillac Escalade waiting for his assistant Tyrone Ivery to return from Niketown when three men accosted him.
Walker said the $1,500 in cash and cell phone he had on his lap fell as he got up and "listened" to the instructions the men gave him as they escorted him back inside the house with their weapons.
"They asked me who was in the house, what was upstairs," Walker, 34, told Shlifka.
Two of the masked gunmen asked Walker, then with the Miami Heat, to sit on the floor at the foot of his bed. Minutes later, the other gunman came up with Ivery and also ordered him on the floor, the former Mount Carmel star said, his 6-foot-9 frame jutting out from the witness chair.
The men took Walker's briefcase that had $10,000 to $20,000 inside as well as 15 to 16 custom-made watches, cuff links and a diamond necklace, Walker said.
Then they forced Walker and Ivery into Walker's walk-in closet and duct-taped their ankles, arms and mouth before asking them to count to a thousand, Walker said.
One man later returned and asked for the keys to Walker's Mercedes CL550.
Last year, Antoine Larkins was sentenced to 21 years in prison for his involvement in the crime. Gregory Reedfields, the getaway driver, was sentenced to four years.
Hill and Larkins were also charged in the 2007 break-in at New York Knicks Center Eddy Curry's Burr Ridge home.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
