Crime & Safety
Three Held without Bond in Shooting Death
Next court appearance slated for Thursday morning in Maybrook.
A Cook County judge ordered two men from Blue Island and third from Chicago held without bond Friday in connection with the of 29-year-old Chervon Alexander.
Devin Bickham Sr., 39, his son Devin Arvdell Bickham, 20 and Cardell Taylor, 35, are in the Cook County Jail awaiting a preliminary hearing, scheduled for 9 am Thursday at Maybrook Court, River Forest Deputy Chief Craig Rutz said.
Each is charged with four counts of first-degree murder. Included is a charge of murder in exchange for money, according to Oak Leaves. An indictment against the three could come in a couple of weeks, Rutz said.
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According to the Chicago Tribune, Assistant State’s Atty. Maureen O’Brien told Cook County Circuit Court Judge William Wise that Bickham, a former North Chicago police officer, offered Taylor $400 if he would kill Alexander, who was from Chicago. O'Brien told the court that the older Bickham had been planning the crime for some time as a way of getting out his relationship with her.
According to the Tribune, O’Brien told the court that the older Bickham and Alexander drove to a parking lot at the northeast corner of Division Street and Bonnie Brae Place, a location that was known to them. His alleged accomplices were in another car a block away. After getting a text message from the older Bickham, Taylor came to the car and shot Alexander several times.
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After the , which took place around 10:20 pm, the older Bickham called police and pretended to be a witness to the shooting, O'Brien said. Authorities said that this was as a way of trying to distance himself from the crime, according to the Tribune.
The younger Bickham and Taylor were picked up late on July 11 by Forest Park police as they drove south on Harlem Avenue in a grayish sedan. A .380 handgun, reportedly the murder weapon, was found in plain view in the car. Officers overheard Taylor demand the other $200 from the younger Bickham, according to Oak Leaves.
Alexander died around 11 pm at Loyola University Medical Center.
The atmosphere inside the courtroom was charged after the bond hearing, according to accounts. Friends and relatives of Alexander’s shouted profanities at the defendants and had to be ushered out by court security officers.
