A Harvey teen facing murder charges for the May 2020 fatal shooting of Charles Baird outside a New Lenox gas station claimed in court Thursday he has an alibi witness.
Public defender Jason Strzelecki told Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak that he will track down the witness in the coming weeks. The witness has lived out-of-state the past few years, but recently moved back to Illinois, Strzelecki said.
The defendant was 16 when prosecutors say he shot 19-year-old New Lenox resident Charles Baird outside the Circle K gas station on Nelson Road. The teen, now 19, remains in custody of the Will County sheriff’s office.
Jennifer Baird, Charles’ mother, said she and her husband were “blindsided” by Thursday’s proceedings as they anticipated a trial date being set.
“Where was this alibi three years ago? Why be in jail three years if you had an alibi?” Baird said.
Earlier this month, the defendant filed a petition for pretrial release under the SAFE-T Act. Bertani-Tomczak denied the petition and the defendant appealed her decision.
Prosecutors have said the defendant with others arrived May 11, 2020, at the Circle K gas station in a vehicle stolen from Lockport two days earlier, and pulled up near Baird’s vehicle while he was inside the station.
As Baird walked out, prosecutors said the defendant pulled out a gun, and shot Baird in the lower back when Baird started to run away. Prosecutors said they have video of the shooting the defendant’s DNA from a cigarette butt found inside the vehicle.
The teen is to appear again in court Jan. 16.
akukulka@chicagotribune.com
