No Bond For Man Accused Of Killing 2 At Nightclub
UPDATED 12/29/11 8:03 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Bond was denied Wednesday for a 26-year-old man accused of opening fire outside a Near West Side bar, killing two people, after he was kicked out of the club.
During a bond hearing Wednesday afternoon, Cook County prosecutors said Taiwan Smith was among a group of people who were asked to leave the Victor Hotel nightclub at 311 N. Sangamon St. early Christmas morning. Smith, apparently angry, went to a parked car, retrieved his gun and returned to the club.
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Smith allegedly fired his weapon at least 15 times near the entrance of the club, then stood over the wounded body of bouncer Robert Warren and shot him again at point blank range, Asst. State's Atty. Jamie Santini said.
Santini didn't say whether it was the 34-year-old Warren who had asked Smith and the others to leave when they started fighting near the club's exit early Sunday.
Also killed in the gunfire outside the establishment was factory worker Jose Duckins, who had been celebrating his 30th birthday.
Duckins' friend, 21-year-old Damoni Sims, was shot in the right arm.
Smith fled the scene, but officers eventually caught up to him at Jackson and California, where they saw him drop a 9mm handgun, Santini said. When he was arrested after a brief foot chase, Smith allegedly told police, "What's the problem? Just left the club."
Smith's attorney Edward Austin contended that there were other shooters involved.
But Santini said Smith was identified in a physical lineup, admitted his role in the shootings to detectives and tested positive for gunshot residue on his right hand. A ballistics test also tied the 15 shell casings recovered from the scene to the handgun Smith was seen tossing to the ground, Santini added.
The McDonald's employee and expectant father has six felony convictions dating back to 2004. He was most recently paroled in June after serving nearly three years of a six-year sentence for narcotics possession.
As a convicted felon, Smith was not legally allowed to own a gun, but he kept a 9mm pistol in his car.
"You are a dangerous individual," Judge Adam Bourgeois told Smith before denying bond Wednesday.
Smith, of the 3200 block of West Arthington Street, has been charged with two counts of murder, aggravated battery and unlawful use of a weapon.
(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)
