Man charged with four counts of murder in South Shore

By Erick Johnson, Chicago Crusader

Maurice Harris, 19, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of four people who were killed March 30 at a restaurant in South Shore.

The announcement came at a press conference on Wednesday, April 5, where police officials said they are looking to see if several other murders that took place in the neighborhood the same day are related to the Harris case.

Area Central Commander Brendan Deenihan said he believes that there is a “reasonable” motive that Harris had to kill, after his father Jerry Jacobs, was murdered the day before. Police said Jacobs had been arrested 47 times and arrested for two homicides. Police also said Harris had a juvenile record.

“I don’t know what Harris was thinking, because Harris didn’t tell us what he was thinking,” Deenihan told reporters at a press conference. “A reasonable belief would be that his father got killed and then subsequently he shoots and kills these four people.”

Deenihan said Harris has not confessed or offered any explanation of the murders to police.

“I wouldn’t suspect he picked four random people on the street, that wouldn’t make sense to me,” Deenihan said.

Deenihan said several eyewitnesses identified Harris as the shooter.

“A more than reasonable person would believe he was seeking revenge for the murder of his father,” Deenihan said.

Deenihan said Harris was arrested by Wentworth District officers near 127th and Western.

Police say on Thursday, March 30, at 3:51 p.m. Harris walked up to a Nadia Fish and Chicken restaurant at 75th and S. Coles and opened fire. According to police Emmanuel C. Stokes, 28, and Edwin Davis, 32, were fatally shot inside the restaurant.

Police said two other men, 19-year-old Raheem Jackson and his 20-year-old brother Dillon Jackson, ran from the restaurant as gunfire erupted. Both were fatally shot in different parking lots within a block of the restaurant, police said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office said all four victims were pronounced dead at the scene. Stokes and the Jacksons lived in South Shore; Davis was a Brainerd neighborhood resident.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the attack was considered “gang-related retaliation from another incident,” though additional information on that incident was not provided.

The men were among seven victims killed in South Shore within 12 hours on March 30. One victim was a pregnant woman who was found dead in her home with a gunshot to her head.

Police said they are still investigating to see if there is a connection to the quadruple shootings.

 

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