A 19-year-old South Shore man was ordered held without bail Thursday for allegedly killing a man he was buying a gun from over the Labor Day weekend.
Surveillance cameras recorded Daveon Houston when he left his apartment Sunday afternoon in the 7800 block of South Clyde Avenue to meet with Peter Lee Jackson Jr. in a nearby alley, Cook County prosecutors said.
Surveillance cameras nearby recorded, Jackson, 20, opening a bag he was carrying and Houston reaching inside and taking out a gun that he placed in his waistband, prosecutors said.
Jackson opened the bag again and reached in before taking out a firearm magazine and a white box that contained ammunition for the gun, prosecutors said. Authorities were able to conclude the white box had ammunition inside based on text messages the men exchanged, prosecutors said.
Daveon HoustonChicago police
The two men eventually walked back to Jackson’s red Ford Focus that was parked near Houston’s apartment. Jackson got into the front seat and Houston got into a rear passenger seat, prosecutors said.
Surveillance video, though grainy, showed Houston lifting his hand up behind Jackson’s head inside the car while other surveillance cameras recorded audio of two gunshots, prosecutors said. Jackson’s head then is seen on video going limp and his body slumped over inside the car, prosecutors said.
Afterward, Houston went to the driver’s seat and appeared to search Jackson’s body before running back to his apartment, prosecutors said.
Chicago police officers found Jackson shot twice in the head and pronounced him dead at the scene, officials said. Two 9-mm shell casings were recovered.
After obtaining a search warrant for Houston’s apartment, investigators found a 9-mm handgun inside that matched the bullet casings found near Jackson’s body, as well as a .40-caliber handgun, prosecutors said.
While in custody, Houston identified himself in photos taken from the surveillance recordings and admitted to buying and taking the gun from Jackson, which he said he planned to pay for via Apple Pay, prosecutors said.
Houston told detectives his phone was having problems sending the money and he gave the gun back to Jackson, who started to load it, prosecutors said. Believing Jackson was going to rob him, Houston allegedly said he grabbed the gun, causing it to fire and strike Jackson.
Houston was subsequently charged with first-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon.
Jackson was one of six people killed in gun violence in Chicago over the holiday weekend. At least 61 others were wounded.
Houston has been working for a landscaping company owned by a relative to support his son, an assistant public defender said.
He is expected back in court Sept. 28.
