Parolee threatened man 8 times before shooting him in drug dispute in Humboldt Park, prosecutors say

Adobe Stock Photo

A Glen Ellyn man charged with a drug-related slaying last month repeatedly warned a 32-year-old victim before shooting him multiple times, Cook County prosecutors said in court Friday.

“I’m warning you,” Pretice Phillips repeated eight times to Kevin Change as Phillips moved toward his Acura SUV on March 17 in the 900 block of North St. Louis Avenue, prosecutors said.

Phillips, 46, allegedly then reached inside the SUV and pulled a gun on Change, saying, “I just told you” before opening fire.

Change fell to the ground after bring struck. As Phillips passed the victim while walking toward the front of his SUV he “casually fired” another round at Change before moving to the driver’s side door and fired again, prosecutors said.

Change was taken to Stroger Hospital and pronounced dead. Another man who had been standing nearby suffered a graze wound but declined medical attention, according to Chicago police.

Phillips was on parole at the time of the shooting on a conviction for a 2012 armed habitual criminal charge, according to state records, and has multiple convictions for drug offenses. His parole officer identified him as the shooter from the video, prosecutors said.

He was being held at the Cook County jail this week when he was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting in lieu of posting $10,000 bond in a pending drug case, according to sheriff’s office records.

Cook County sheriff’s office

Prosecutors said the murder stemmed from an argument between the two men over narcotics sales and was “clearly” captured by multiple surveillance cameras, at least one of which was also recording audio.

Defense attorney William Murphy, however, disputed the quality of those recordings, telling Judge Maryam Ahmad he had viewed video of the shooting after Phillips was taken into custody and found the footage so unclear “you couldn’t tell who was involved.”

Additionally, the attorney said, witnesses had told him Change had a gun as well, and suggested someone may have removed the weapon before police arrived.

The case, the lawyer said, had “several good defenses, just gotta pick one” and asked that Phillips be given a bond.

Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said the video clearly showed Change did not have a gun.

“There is no self-defense here,” the prosecutor said.

Judge Ahmad agreed with prosecutors and ordered Phillips held without bail, citing the “overwhelming” amount of alleged video evidence, including surveillance footage of Phillips allegedly getting into the SUV near his Glen Ellyn home earlier on the day of the shooting while wearing clothing that matched the shooter’s.