2 men found guilty in retired Chicago firefighter's murder during attempted carjacking
CHICAGO - Two of the four men accused of shooting and killing a longtime Chicago firefighter during a bungled carjacking were found guilty Wednesday. A third man pled guilty earlier this week.
On December 3, 2020, Dwain Williams, a retired Lieutenant with the Chicago Fire Department, was walking out of a popcorn shop at 117th and Western when four young men jumped out of a car and tried to carjack his red Jeep. Dwain Williams had a concealed carry permit and pulled out his gun. Multiple shots were exchanged, and Williams was shot in the abdomen and later died.
The 65-year-old was just about to go back to work for the city of Chicago at the Office of Emergency Management.
Three suspects in the fatal shooting, Devin Barron, Dwain Johnson and Jaleyn Saulsberry were all charged with first-degree murder.
The star witness for prosecutors was 18-year-old David Williams, who was the fourth member of that carjacking crew. Williams was just 15 at the time and was charged as a juvenile. He agreed to testify against the others after serving six months in a juvenile detention center.
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Devin-Barron (left), Jaleyn Saulsberry (right)
David Williams told jurors that he and the defendants committed multiple carjackings together, and targeted Lt. Williams when they saw his car at a gas station a couple blocks away.
But defense attorneys for the three defendants slammed David Williams during cross-examination.
"Well I refer to him as a thug," said attorney David Sotomayor. "He’s a self-admitted car thief, since the age of 15."
Sotomayor represented defendant Saulsberry, and questioned whether David Williams could even remember what happened.
"He’s also admitted he was high on ecstasy during the period of time of the commission of his crime. So it’s my position that he was given a great offer to testify falsely against my client."
After double jury trials, Barron and Saulsberry were found guilty.
The third defendant, Johnson, pled guilty Tuesday and also testified against his co-defendants during the trial.