Man Killed Woman Trying To Leave His Birthday Party: Prosecutors
(STMW) -- A North Lawndale man who felt disrespected when a woman called for a ride home from his birthday party and fatally shot her, was finally captured by police more than a year later, according to prosecutors.
Tyrese Orr, 36, of the 1800 block of South Springfield Avenue was charged this week with first-degree murder for the death of 22-year-old Michelle Gregory on April 14, 2012, authorities said.
Gregory was driving around with two female friends after work when one of them received a phone call from two men they worked with inviting them to a house party near 19th and Springfield, according to court documents.
It was a birthday gathering for Orr, whom the women had never met, according to court documents. An unidentified man began flirting with Gregory, which made her uncomfortable because she had a boyfriend, prosecutors said.
The man later overheard Gregory and her friends calling family members from outside the neighborhood for a ride home.
Gregory and her friends left the party and were outside waiting to see if her friends from work needed a ride when Orr and the man who had been flirting with her came outside, according to court documents.
Orr told them he felt disrespected that they were trying to bring outside people into his neighborhood, then pulled a gun and shot Gregory three times, according to prosecutors.
Gregory fell to the ground and her friends tried to help, but Orr pointed the gun at the other girls and said, "If you don't get out of her [sic] you will end up dead like your friend," according to court documents.
Gregory, of the 7600 block of South Saint Lawrence Avenue, died a short time later at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
The two women ran, called 911 and flagged down a police officer to tell them what happened, prosecutors said. Officers identified the gunman as Orr, and witnesses positively identified him in a photo array.
An arrest warrant was issued in October 2012 and Orr was taken into custody on the warrant on Sept. 9, according to court documents. On Thursday, Judge Israel A. Disierto ordered him held without bond.
Orr had previously been sentenced to probation for a 2003 burglary and later sent to prison for violating conditions of that probation, according to court documents.
