Prosecutors say a gunman bragged to a bystander that he “shot that b–ch first” after allegedly shooting at another person following a fight outside an apartment complex in Zion.
The Zion Police Department responded around 3:50 a.m. on July 15 to the 2700 block of Hebron Avenue in Zion for a report of shots fired.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Kailey Hopkins said officers arrived and began searching for gunshot evidence.
A bystander from one of the apartment buildings told officers they heard approximately two gunshots and saw a person fall in front of his apartment before fleeing toward the wooded area with another subject chasing him.
Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the Hebron Townhomes and saw a vehicle traveling eastbound on 27th Street around 11:11 p.m. hours earlier, Hopkins said.
The car began to slow roll with the headlights off and continued to creep forward.
The vehicle left the video frame and several voices were heard on the audio. Four males then cut across the north parking lot and were seen walking to the east side townhomes.
Hopkins said three of the four subjects were identified and one of them was seen around 11:40 p.m. meeting up with Kwencie T. Mayfield, 30, of Zion.
Mayfield was later heard arguing on the sidewalk with one of the four subjects around 1:53 a.m.
Other people attempted to de-escalate the situation and separate Mayfield and the other subject.
Hopkins said Mayfield was seen walking away from the scene and into his apartment around 2:08 a.m. before leaving a minute later and rejoining everyone outside.
The surveillance video showed Mayfield and two others in a verbal altercation around 3:49 a.m.
Mayfield was heard saying, “Your company can get you capped” to one of the men, Hopkins said.
Mayfield repeated the statement and walked toward the other man as someone else was in between both of them trying to de-escalate the situation.
The argument continued to escalate and the two men “square up” and took fighting stances, Hopkins said.
Hopkins said one of the men punched toward Mayfield and Mayfield ducked before pulling out a gun and shooting at the man.
The victim could be seen ducking after the first gunshot before turning around and pulling his own gun, firing it in the direction of the others, Hopkins said.
All of the men run from the scene in different directions. Additional surveillance footage recovered showed a man asking Mayfield if “they” shot at him. “No, I just shot that b–ch first,” Mayfield responded, according to Hopkins.
Mayfield was charged 10 days after the shooting with aggravated discharge of a firearm, reckless discharge of a firearm and three counts of aggravated unlawful possession of a firearm.
An arrest warrant was issued and Mayfield was taken into custody last month and transported to the Lake County Jail.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Mayfield pending trial.
“Kwencie is a real and present threat to the safety of [victim] and the community. Kwencie had every opportunity to de-escalate the situation and leave but he continued to re-engage. He continued to have the verbal altercation and escalated the situation when he drew his weapon and fired his gun at [victim],” Hopkins said.
Hopkins said Mayfield’s response to the unknown man that he “shot that b–ch first” was callous and demonstrates his “lack of remorse for endangering the life of another human being.”
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition and said it was a violent crime with Mayfield continuing to re-engage in the situation despite multiple attempts by a bystander to de-escalate the situation.
Nerheim agreed with prosecutors that Mayfield, who was on court supervision at the time, poses a danger to the community and no conditions of release could mitigate the threat.
Mayfield is scheduled to appear in court again on October 23 for an arraignment hearing.