A Cook County Judge on Saturday ordered held without bail an 18-year-old high school student in connection with a failed drug heist that ended with five people shot, three fatally.
Three days after the shooting in a Southwest Side home in the Brighton Park neighborhood, Torrence Reese, of the 900 block of West 68th Street in the Englewood neighborhood was charged with three counts of first degree murder; Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas denied him bail during bond court Saturday. Reese, who was on track to graduate from Jane Addams High School, was not present in court, as he also was struck by gunfire and currently is hospitalized with gunshot wounds, his attorney said.
The charges are tied to the deaths of brothers Emmanuel Camacho, 18, and Filogonio Rivera-Camacho, 20, both of the 3900 block of South Albany Avenue and 19-year-old Julian Miller, of the 1400 block of East 71st Street.
Reese additionally is charged with attempting to kill a surviving witness and with armed robbery, prosecutors said. The witness, who was not named, was the fifth person shot.
Prosecutors said the witness was friends with the brothers and also knew Reese from high school. Because he knew the brothers occasionally sold marijuana from their apartment, and Reese was interested in purchasing 2 ounces of marijuana for $400, prosecutors said he arranged for Reese to purchase marijuana from the brothers.
About 2:45 p.m., Reese and Julian Miller arrived to the first-floor apartment. They entered and went into a bedroom connected to the kitchen, where the brothers and the witness were playing video games, prosecutors said.
Reese and Miller discussed purchasing marijuana from the brothers, and eventually Reese, Miller and the witness began to smoke marijuana together. The witness began to feel nauseous and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water, closing the door of the bedroom behind him after exiting the room, prosecutors said.
While in the kitchen, the witness suddenly heard multiple gunshots from inside the bedroom.
The witness ran away from the bedroom, toward the back door of the apartment off an enclosed porch. Reese opened the bedroom door, pointed a handgun in the direction of the witness and fired several shots, striking the witness in the hip and left leg, prosecutors said.
The witness was able to hide in the basement, prosecutors said. While there, he heard sounds of a physical scuffle overhead, then heard additional gunshots, prosecutors said. The witness cried out to other residents of the building, who then entered the apartment to find Miller on the floor of the enclosed porch.
Miller suffered two fatal gunshot wounds to his back. Next to his body was a bag of marijuana, prosecutors said.
The group of witnesses then discovered the brothers dead inside the apartment. Rivera-Camacho was on the floor in the hallway, between the kitchen and the front room, prosecutors said. He suffered from multiple gunshot wounds to his body and head.
Camacho was found in the front room of the apartment, prosecutors said. He also suffered from multiple gunshot wounds to the body and head.
The witness was driven by the neighbors who stepped in to Mount Sinai, where he was treated for his gunshot wounds.
After the shooting, Reese left the brothers’ apartment, still armed with his handgun. He got into his vehicle and drove around the block before returning to the front of the brothers’ apartment building. He appeared to slow down, waiting for his accomplice, Miller, to leave the apartment, prosecutors said.
When Miller didn’t show, Reese drove to a nearby Dunkin Donuts and gave his car keys to an employee, saying he’d been shot and that his sister would come by to pick up his vehicle, prosecutors said. The employee saw that Reese was shot and instead called 911.
Reese was still at the Dunkin Donuts when paramedics arrived and treated him for two gunshot wounds to his buttocks and arms. Police officers also arrived, and took Reese’s car keys from the employee. Inside Reese’s car officials found a 9 mm handgun and traces of blood inside the glove box. Police also found a bag of marijuana, prosecutors said.
At the brothers’ apartment, police found five 9 mm shell casings and one live 9 mm round. Though the gun’s test results are pending, police observed that the ammunition at the shooting scene was consistent with that of the ammunition recovered from Reese’s gun, prosecutors said.
The surviving witness identified Reese as the person who was in the bedroom with the three victims Wednesday, and as the person who exited that bedroom and shot at the witness, prosecutors said.
Autopsies performed by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Rivera-Camacho, Camacho and Miller’s deaths were homicides.
Reese is due in court Tuesday. Reese’s family was absent from bond court Saturday, Reese’s attorney said, as they were with Reese at Stroger Hospital. Reese is the father of a two-year-old child.
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