Third Man Charged In 2013 Slaying Outside Chatham Gas Station
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A third man was charged Sunday in the December 2013 slaying of Leroy Griffin, who was beaten and then shot in the head by rival gang members outside a Chatham gas station.
Steven Blanchard, 26, who was charged with first-degree murder, is accused of being the triggerman who killed Griffin. He was ordered held without bail during a brief appearance before Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil.
Blanchard was in an SUV with six other people on Dec. 21, 2013, when someone spotted Griffin, 19, and a friend outside a gas station at 79th and Lafayette, according to authorities.
The group spilled out of the SUV and started beating Griffin, Assistant State's Attorney LaShunda Cooperwood said in court Sunday. Meanwhile, Blanchard chased after Griffin's friend, who sprinted away from the gas station. Blanchard fired shots at the friend but headed back to the gas station when he didn't hit him.
As Blanchard walked back to join his group, he saw Griffin running toward him, Cooperwood said. He took aim and fired a single shot, striking Griffin in the head.
Blanchard, of the 1500 block of East 72nd, then rejoined the group, which fled in the SUV, authorities said.
Griffin, of the 7500 block of South Langley Avenue, was pronounced dead a short time later, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Last December, Lamont Jackson, 24, and Louis Smith, 25, also were charged with murder in connection with Griffin's death.
Parts of the attack were captured by surveillance cameras, though the shooting itself was not, prosecutors said.
Blanchard confessed to shooting Griffin when he was questioned, prosecutors said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
