A 34-year-old man faces up to 60 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of fatally shooting another man in a “cold-blooded and calculated” ambush murder outside a motel in Waukegan.
Darius Kirby, 34, of Riverdale, and Shava Jackson-Spicer, 29, of Joliet, were both charged in March 2021 with multiple counts of first-degree murder.
The Waukegan Police Department and Park City Police Department responded on August 26, 2020, to Motel 6, 31 North Green Bay Road in Waukegan, for a report of shots fired.
Officers arrived and located a victim, identified as Jerry L. Reid Jr., 32, of Joliet, outside the motel with six gunshot wounds.
Reid was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Surveillance videos played at trial this month showed Kirby arriving at the motel in a black Dodge Challenger, which was owned by him.
Kirby and two others were seen as they searched and waited for Reid to exit the motel, prosecutors said.
The videos also showed Kirby and the two others chase the victim to the side of the motel where he was later discovered critically injured by police officers.
Officers testified to finding a Dodge Challenger key fob near where Reid was found. The same key fob unlocked the Dodge Challenger registered to Kirby.
Other expert witnesses were able to place Kirby at the crime scene through cellphone records and tollway records.
Kirby was convicted of the charges on Wednesday following a jury trial, which began last week and spanned five days.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said after the trial that Kirby committed a “cold-blooded and calculated murder that he contemplated as he made the long drive from Joliet, Illinois, to Waukegan.”
“Mr. Kirby then laid in wait for his victim. This type of planned murder warrants a very lengthy prison sentence,” Rinehart said.
“Our experienced trial team from the Violent Crimes Unit did an outstanding job. Our office’s outstanding victim specialists will continue to support the family as we work together to seek justice,” he added.
Lake County Judge George Strickland revoked Kirby’s ability to post bond following the verdict. He has been held in the Lake County Jail on a $2 million bond since his arrest.
Kirby faces 20 to 60 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He is scheduled to appear in court again on May 1.
The case against Jackson-Spicer remains active and a jury trial is tentatively scheduled for April 22.