A Hermosa man was ordered held on $5 million bail Tuesday for his alleged involvement in a Fourth of July shooting that left one dead and three others injured in Humboldt Park.
Keshawn Keaton was initially charged with torching a vehicle used by his fellow gunmen about a week after the 2019 shooting that claimed the life of 32-year-old Pierre Teamer.
But murder and attempted murder charges were filed against Keaton this week after an additional witness recently identified him as one of the individuals who pulled the trigger, Cook County prosecutors said.
Keaton had been identified as a “participant” in the arson and the shooting, according to his 2019 arrest report. One witness identified him as a shooter at that time and another person identified him as a shooter in November.
But prosecutors did not explain in court Tuesday as to why there was a delay in charging Keaton with more serious crimes earlier.
Witnesses saw Keaton and two others get out of two cars and open fire at a group of people hanging out and playing dice near Iowa Street and Homan Avenue around 11:30 a.m. that morning, prosecutors said.
The deadly shooting, which also wounded three men — ages 17, 23 and 31 — was part of a violent July Fourth weekend that year, which saw five people killed and 63 others wounded, the Chicago Sun-Times had reported.
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After the shooting, officers tried to chase the white sedan involved in the crime but lost sight of the car. They found it abandoned that afternoon, Chicago police said at the time.
Keaton, a reputed member of the TNG faction of the Conservative Vicelords, was captured on a surveillance camera wiping down and pouring lighter fluid on the sedan before setting it on fire, prosecutors said.
When he was arrested in 2019, Keaton admitted to setting the sedan on fire during a recorded phone call, prosecutors said. “They got me on the arson, ain’t no denying that’s me on the video and it’s my face, they showed me pictures,” Keaton allegedly said.
Court records show Keaton was initially held without bail for arson, but was later released on electronic monitoring. Judge Mary Marubio Tuesday revoked Keaton’s bond for the pending arson.
When Keaton was arrested at this home Monday, officers recovered a loaded semiautomatic handgun, more than $32,000 in cash and 265 grams of marijuana, prosecutors said.
As a result, Keaton is facing an additional felony drug charge and a misdemeanor weapons charge.
Keaton’s attorney argued that the search was illegal because a warrant was not obtained and Keaton was arrested at the front door.
Keaton was working at a suburban Portillo’s before his arrest for the arson, the defense attorney said.
