Man Charged In Slaying Of Cicero Pizzeria Owner
UPDATED: 6/22/2013 5:00 p.m.
CICERO, Ill. (CBS) -- A Chicago man has been charged with the murder of the owner of a Cicero pizzeria.
Man Charged In Slaying Of Cicero Pizzeria Owner
The suspect, Matthew Brown-Turner, was turned in by a friend according to Cicero town spokesman Ray Hanania. Brown-Turner has a past criminal history.
"He was watching TV apparently after he had left the robbery where he shot and killed Giovanni Donancricchia, the owner Albanos pizza restaurant on Roosevelt Road , and he saw that the news reports were reporting that the person had died," said Hanania.
Hanania says the suspect told the women he was with at the time that he was the one who committed the crime.
She called police, and they staked out his Chicago home and took him into custody early yesterday morning when he came home.
The robbery and murder occurred early Thursday morning as Giovanni Donancricchia and his wife were closing the restaurant.
His wife told police the suspect came in the back door and put a gun to her head.
She opened the cash register and her husband came out of the walk-in cooler and told his wife to get out and call police and when she left, she heard the shot.
"At that point, it wasn't about money but about a man putting a gun to my mom's head, and he wasn't going to have that," said Giovanni's son, Saverio.
The prosecutor said the victim grabbed a knife to defend himself before he was shot.
The crime she said was captured on surveillance video.
The suspect was denied bond in a court appearance on Saturday.
Brown Turner got in though an open back door--usually kept open for the homeless, who knew that after hours, Giovanni would feed them.
"He came from poverty and worked hard to build a business, raised us strict, gave us a great work ethic and told us nothing in life is free," said Giovanni's son, Saverio.
"Justice will be served."
