YouTube screencap courtesy CBSChicago.
Previous Post
Next Post

An 18-year-old felon (pictured above) out on $200 bail for attacking police officers (allegedly) shot his Michigan State University girlfriend in the face with a handgun, killing her.

Cops say another man also free on $200 bail emptied his illegally possessed revolver into another man, killing him.

Then there’s the 19-year-old out on $500 for having a loaded rifle, drugs and a revoked license.  He later reportedly killed a nurse he mistook as a rival gang member.

These are three of seven cases of individuals arrested in Chicago for serious crimes and then released under Illinois’ new “affordable bail” law, who then went on to allegedly commit truly horrific crimes.

The bail reform measure passed a couple of years ago as part of the Land of Lincoln’s criminal justice reform. Defenders of the new law deny the obvious fact that violent criminals arrested and then released after paying a trivial amount or no bail often re-offend before their subsequent court dates.

One of those reality deniers is Cook County’s Chief Judge Tim Evans. He famously claimed that “we haven’t had any horrible incidents occur using this new system.”

From CWB Chicago:

It’s been two months since Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans said, “it’s not by magic that we haven’t had any horrible incidents occur using this new [affordable bail] system,” during budget hearings on Nov. 4.

Since then, we’ve told you about seven different people who are currently facing murder charges for crimes that they allegedly committed while free on “affordable bail” awaiting trial for charges such as Class X felony armed violence, unlawful use of a weapon, and repeated use of a weapon by a felon.

It’s hard to fathom how Evans would conclude that those murders and shootings committed by persons on affordable bail weren’t “horrible incidents.”

Since November, our team has come across new cases in which men have been charged with killing or shooting people while on affordable bail awaiting trial for serious crimes. Here’s a look at these new “not horrible” situations…

From there, CWB Chicago details truly horrific cases. One of the most striking is an 18-year-old felon who was wanted on a warrant attacked arresting officers, biting one. A judge cut Lafayette Hodges loose with a $200 bond. Did he fly the straight and narrow?

Hardly. From CWB Chicago:

While awaiting trial in May, he was charged with manufacture delivery of narcotics near a park or school. He was released on his own recognizance and prosecutors dropped the case in June.

Then, still awaiting trial in August, he was charged with manufacture-delivery of heroin. He was again released on his own recognizance and prosecutors dropped that case in October.

Then, after Christmas, he shot his girlfriend in the face.

Two days after Christmas, Hodges’ girlfriend was fatally shot. Hodges told police that he thought the gun was empty when he pointed it at the girl’s head and pulled the trigger. The gun wasn’t empty.

He thought his pistol wasn’t loaded. That makes it all okay, right? And did he stick around, rendering aid and calling for medical assistance for his romantic interest? Not exactly. He took off running, with his GAT.

Police said Hodges ran from the house with the gun before emergency crews even arrived.

Based on his juvenile robbery conviction, Hodges is not allowed to possess any firearm. Prosecutors charged him only with involuntary manslaughter.

Involuntary manslaughter? That’s $50,000 bail – which means it only takes $5000 to walk free. Again.

I recently wrote about bail reform laws spreading across America, citing it as one more reason people should carry a firearm every day. Because under these soft-on-crime reforms, these jurisdictions seem very reluctant to take bad guys out of circulation.

In the meantime, innocent people will suffer a heavy burden.

 

Previous Post
Next Post

136 COMMENTS

    • Because the government says you can’t be a “vigilante” by defending others and yourself from crime with firearms. They also require permission to carry a gun to stop law abiding peasants from carrying tools that will empower them against criminals. Then there is the indoctrination that teaches citizens shooting people over property is wrong, that you should give away your property so you can file a claim with a corporation and allow the criminal to live another day of crime.

      In Mexico, towns have taken back their safety by carrying illegal assault rifles and using them against the cartels and corrupt government workers. If it works there…

      • Chief Censor says:
        February 8, 2020 at 16:36
        “Because the government says you can’t be a “vigilante” by defending others and yourself from crime with firearms. They also require permission to carry a gun to stop law abiding peasants from carrying tools that will empower them against criminals. Then there is the indoctrination that teaches citizens shooting people over property is wrong, that you should give away your property so you can file a claim with a corporation and allow the criminal to live another day of crime.”

        “GOT IT” You live in China, right? OR Venezuela, Cuba, Great Britain, Illinois, NY, Mass, Ca? Has to be one of those bastions of Socialist/Communism because in the free world we have the right to self defense, stand your ground, castle doctrine, constitutional carry……

    • You’d thing that the law abiding citizens (aka targets aka victims aka voters) would have had enough of this crap and choose pols who wouldn’t endanger their lives with these social justice experiments

      • All you have to do is go to any major city… walk into any government building…. take a look at the “people” working in these government buildings…. look at who they are…
        THEY HATE YOU AND THEY HATE THIS COUNTRY, YET THEY’VE BEEN ALLOWED TO TAKE EVERY GOVERNMENT JOB…… WHEN YOU HIRE PEOPLE WHO HATE YOU AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR, OF COURSE THINGS IN YOUR COMPANY ARE GONNA CHANGE… EVENTUALLY THOSE SAME PEOPLE WHO HATE YOU AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR ARE GOING TO DRAMATICALLY CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS.. . HELL, THEY WILL GET RID OF YOU IF GIVEN ENOUGH POWER…..
        Well they’ve been given the power in your government… DO NOT be surprised by what is happening…. this is the result of years of “social justice” and “affirmative action”….

        THESE PEOPLE HATE YOU…. STOP TRYING TO BE NICE TO PEOPLE WHO HATE YOU…. IT MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE A FKN IDIOT AND ENDANGERS EVERYONE…..

        • You can see it in their eyes George. I don’t know if it’s hatred or just resenting having to work. There will be no customer service there. In fact you are wasting their time asking them to do what they were hired to do. The left wants more and more of this.

        • Thanks, I thought it was just me that sensed this at my local post office, which is the only governement related entity I have to deal with.

    • the most obvious being vote her the hell out. soros gave her 75k after she had won, ostensibly for reelection. can i dream about the shadenfreud that would accompany evans gatting molested by one of his releases?

      https://bucktowncrimedata.blogspot.com/2017/10/foxx-support-by-precinct.html

      the link shows maps of voting by precinct as well as the most dangerous crime areas of shickagoo. do not be surprised that areas that benefit heavily from sentencing reform displayed a propensity for cabrini kimm. reprinted from heyjackass.

    • Only seven? These dudes better get busy, quick… They’re getting back into business pretty slowly, esp in Chi Town.

    • Taurus 4 Life says:
      February 8, 2020 at 16:26
      Thanks again Donny Bonespurs!

      You mean Lori “Lezzie” Lightfoot and Bill de “Commie” Blasio right? Donny Bonespur does not set criminal statutes in local jurisdictions…

        • Taurus 4 life? …. You drive one of those pieces of $hit?….wtf is wrong with you?… oh…I bet I know….. you’re one of those disgusting commie liberals….
          Yeah, a Taurus fits your dumb ass pretty well

        • Taurus 4 Life says:
          February 8, 2020 at 18:40
          I bet you love sniffing your socks

          Sorry to disappoint CLOWN, but I don’t wear socks (I buy quality boots and sneakers, no socks required) I also go COMMANDO (since 1968) since you seem so interested…. You will do well here, a little practice and add a few hundred words to REALLY showcase your ignorance (or stupidity) and you will fit right in with the rest of the diversionary entertainment fools like Vlad and that Chief commie guy… Hang in there we need dumb shits like you, otherwise we would have to argue among ourselves…

        • Yeah ‘Madmaxx’ , you seem stable. You’re not at all a prime reason why we have red flag laws. You ruin it for the rest of us because you’re old, crazy and stupid.

        • Taurus 4 Life says:
          February 9, 2020 at 04:22
          Yeah ‘Madmaxx’ , you seem stable. You’re not at all a prime reason why we have red flag laws. You ruin it for the rest of us because you’re old, crazy and stupid.

          Excellent comeback for a slow witted turd, did your mommy approve that one? Oh well I had really high hopes for you (even elevated you to VLAD stature) but you’ve proven me wrong, you are not worthy of more than the brief rebuke you will receive from now on, you obviously have nothing to contribute other than “nuhuhhh, you are”… Another total waste of oxygen, bless your little heart, bye now….

        • “Yeah ‘Madmaxx’ , you seem stable. You’re not at all a prime reason why we have red flag laws. You ruin it for the rest of us because you’re old, crazy and stupid.”

          Ignore the troll.
          This is the EXACT same statement made to me when I commented to the “Gifting Guns” story before Christmas.
          I provided the GB auction number for the NATO spec STEYR AUG purchase so they could toward to the BATFE with any proof of threats I made to ANYONE.
          Still choadworthy Taurus? I hope so.

        • Such a pathetic attempt at a “pivot” for the content of the discussion. What a loser.
          Would you feel better if I was gifting a Taurus?
          Sorry not sorry that I purchase quality, and that makes your vagina hurt.

        • More content on topic.
          I blew your claim of “humblebrag” over a few sub-$3k rifles out of the water days ago. Remember, I “BRAG on-ed” and listed a few handguns that are worth three of those rifles.
          Glad to point out you are clueless. Hard to know what passes for bragging when you have no CLUE what someone owns and/or can afford. Learn this and you MIGHT be able to up your pathetic troll game loser.

        • Well TurdUs4Life, no response, huh.
          Basement dwelling loser.
          Just curious, where did you get your degree in psychology that ACTUALLY enables you to ident red flag risks in TTAG online comment sections?
          Your too big an idiot to even have a clue of how idiotic you come off.
          Oh, enjoy that Taurus loser.

    • This may come as a shock to you, but not everything that you perceive as ‘wrong’ or ‘unfair’ can be directly traced back to President Trump.

      A drastic liberalization of bail rules and amounts in Chicago is completely unrelated to President Trump, and rests solely upon the Liberal Progressive elected officials of that city. Increasing tensions between Baluchistan and Kazakhstan are beyond Trump’s control. Failing soybean crops in Chad are beyond his purview.

      Likewise, your lost car keys, your bad day at work, your tragic inability to ‘satisfy’ your Good Lady Wife, your lack of ‘friends’ on FaceBook, your dog running away, and your embarrassing intestinal gas has NOTHING to do with President Trump, either.

      You’re just going to have to find another scapegoat.

  1. First, the United States has a innocent to proven guilty common law type of system. Second, they have a bail system to allow suspected criminals to buy their freedom until they are found guilty. Third, prohibition causes increases in: crime, prison population, gun control, broken families, Democrat votes, etc.

    I don’t think patriots want to throw away human rights so America can be like Japan’s system.

    Imagine a system without release for suspected violations of laws, prohibition and the death penalty for drugs. Sounds like what ISIS and the Taliban do under Sharia. They got the lashing too. At least the Muslims publicly execute pedophiles and rapists.

    • Nice fallacies. Amazingly, there is a middle-ground between letting violent criminals walk out on pocket-change (“affordable”) bail and turning into ISIS.

      • ISIS wound recruit these dirt bags directly from the jails and prisons. Their primitive and barbaric behavior fits right in.

    • What you’re talking about, is the other side of the equation when we discuss freedom. It’s funny how much all of these people here are dawging you for promoting freedom, yet the next time someone wants to change something they like, it’s tyranny.

    • That’s what’s so nice about Red Flag laws: No guilt to prove, no bail to set. They just steal your property and bury you in court costs.

    • There is no constitutional right to bail. This is settled law. As for summary execution for drug offenses, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Druggies as sub-human vermin.

        • guilty as charged. i saw this woman yelling, “here ’tis!” and i propositioned her.
          apparently she was calling her dog.

        • “guilty as charged. i saw this woman yelling, “here ’tis!” ”

          That was an old Buddy Hackkett comedy bit – She said “here ’tis!” “, he replied – “Hello, ’tis!”

  2. Hmm, I see a race to the bottom between New York and Illinois. Both state are going be blaming the victims instead of the criminal elements that are released on a ridiculously low bail amount.

    • The problem isn’t the bail system. It’s the fact that politicians create the problem and exacerbate it for their personal gain and the destruction of the United States. Then dummies become racist toward the ghetto dwellers for breaking the laws those politicians created. Ultimately, the government engineers an artificial divide among Americans. After that comes the majority getting upset with the bankers, corporations and billionaires for bringing in brown people. National socialism and communism starts to rise in the minds of the people. The country starts to eat itself alive.

      It’s not about $500 bail and drug dealing. It’s the same old story that repeats itself… It’s so repetitive it’s now obvious to those that look at things for what they are instead of living with a bias.

      • I as just wondering about that, so I looked it up. The law passed in the Legislature, facing threats of immediate lawsuits, was put on hold and the (essentially no) bail law in on the ballot for November. anyone who has a relative in jail will vote for it, so odds are it will pass. I am not sure that it will matter. Around here, it is catch and release for most crimes because the jail is always full.

        • In a bit under two months we have seen a spike in escalating spree crimes that have multiple arrests in between until the charge is attempted murder as aggravated assault (drive bys) have been released on recognizance at least a half dozen times for Albany county alone.

    • Woah, woah hold on there. We in California want to get in on that race. With Newsom on point and with exemplars like Feinstein and Pelosi in our camp we are a shoo-in for that race.

      • You WOULD think those two would give Ca a significant advantage BUT Chuck and Alex pretty much got them covered then there’s Nadler and Gillibrand (Cals loss of Lee and Boxer was regrettable).. Ill has THE Dick who is a force in himself, however in spite of ALL the talent in D.C. it is the local players that will decide the winners (aka losers) in this game which pretty much levels the playing field.. AND let us not forget the late great Commonwealth of Va, a newcomer to the insanity but making up ground in a hurry…..

  3. And then there is the guy in NYC who was beaten to death by MS13 thugs after his identity as a witness against them was revealed to their attorney under new laws in NY……. but people are threatened with all kinds of bullshit or revealing a bogus “whistleblower” that started a multi-million dollar sham investigation resulting in tying up the United States Senate for two weeks…. What a fucked up world.. too bad the assholes in Chicago didn’t use those scarry black rifles we might have actually heard about it when it happened

      • Dah… ORANGE MAN BAD!!!

        YES, he is indeed a BAADDD man…. He’s done more in three years than any other POTUS has in eight, five more years and the only place called “the Swamp” (outside of an ACTUAL swamp) will be in Gainesville…. Clean out that shithole and stop that crazy spending going on in D.C…. Rock on Orange Man…

  4. Oh it’s worse than Boch sez…the Chriaq hit parade is quickly drifting south. We gotta a rich connected white boy running for Cook county states attorney aginst Kim Foxx named Bill Conway. “Proud progressive”,”navy vet”(ala John Kerry),fighting the NRA and -you guessed it-criminal reform. Praise the LORD & pass the ammunition😩

    • I’m waiting for John Carpenter’s next movie, based on reality, “Escape from Chicago”.

      Watch as ordinary decent people try to escape criminal gangs and their corrupt overlords. Will the president decide enough is enough and cauterize the problem for once and for all?

  5. Hurr durr… why the criminal do more criminal stuff when we let them back out? Derpity derr… stop doing crime or you will go to jail for a few more days…

  6. Just think how many firearms, ammunition, and training could be paid for, if we closed all the prisons, state and federal, fired all the cops, judges, prosecutors, and public defenders, bet we could even put a wanted dead bounty on what few perpetrators that survived their initial encounter with armed citizens that are not going to be victims of criminals or government.

  7. Meanwhile, in Texas, I know somebody who was arrested for DWI while on a tractor in a pasture baling hay. His bond was something like $1,000. It’s ok, he’s white.

      • Oh we know what they do to the “brown ones” you fkn idiot….. THEY GIVE THEM FREE HOUSING, FOOD AND MEDICAL …. BUT HOPEFULLY NOT FOR MUCH LONGER…. AMERICANS WILL WAKE UP EVENTUALLY… HOPEFULLY

        • And they send their kids to college FREE including taxpayer funded abortions for the girls (and the boys that THIINK they are girls)…

        • “It’s ok, he’s white.”

          That’s dangerously close to ADL recognized hate speech. Watch yourself. 😉

    • More information, please. The Texan must have been operating the equipment on someone else’s property as an employee or contractor. Couldn’t get into trouble while in his own pasture, could he?

      • Has to be on a public roadway, but for some reason that has been ignored by the sheriff’s office in this county for the past few years and people are being arrested for it when they haven’t even been on a road.

        • That sounds like Colorado, where you can get a DUI based on being intoxicated with the “intent to drive”, meaning you were a certain distance from a vehicle with the keys in your pocket. By law, nearly anyone drinking a beer by a campfire can be convicted based on this criteria

  8. Democrats need an electorate that believes the end is nigh and with record low crime something has to be done to pump up the fear.

    With a booming economy, record unemployment, rising wages, record low crime and a relative drought of foreign intervention simply hating the orange man won’t get you far. Especially if absence of orange man means all of those good things fade away.

      • That’s actually true though. All they have to do is say we only have (fill in the blank) years to act (tax & spend) or it’s all over!! When that time comes (this keeps happening) they just extend it a few more years. If climate change doesn’t kill you, those white supremacists will!! New gullible idiots are being born everyday.

  9. Lord, have mercy.

    So look at his mug shot. He is crying.

    I’m so sick of liberals letting his kind out on the street.

    That’s all.

  10. Liberalism is killing the innocent. Its killing babies, it’s enabling killer illegals, gang members, and illegal drug users and sellers to walk free and kill again. Trump championed the ill named criminal justice reform for the black vote. ITS TIME WE TAKE BACK AMERICA FOR THE AMERICANS AND GET RID OF THE REST. AND TIME TO LOCK THE SCUMBAGS UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY.

    • Trump played you all like a fiddle, 10 years ago he was a democrat. The guy loves money and power as much as any politician. All he had to do to convince you all was to yell “build the wall, Hillary for prison, drain the swamp, Murica F yeah!” You’re as stupid and gullible as the democrats who fell for the Obama trap just because it was “cool” to vote for a minority. Both the GOP and DNC hurt the nation, and to focus on gun rights the republiturds also screwed you. FL is a perfect example of that with the legislation passed after the shooting in Broward Cty.

      • You could be right, it isn’t worth arguing. If he keeps the country running as it is now, or better, I’ll be voting for him for the next 20 years.

  11. If President Obama had seven bastard sons, they would look like these guys. This is why Democrats are obsessed with gun control. Focusing blame on guns, gun owners and the NRA enables them to distract people from the fact that African-Americans are only 1/8 of the population but they commit over half of all homicides and almost two-thirds of all gun homicides.

    • But Obama didn’t have seven bastard sons. African Americans, 1/8 2/3 and all that. Ahhh oh, they be a whole new breed of white trash meth heads on the rise, and then

  12. This surprises anybody??
    “Stupid is as stupid does” Fits Chicago perfectly.
    I hate to say it. But. I stopped caring about anybody or anything to do with their crime problems years ago.

    • I don’t hate to say it….. I’VE NEVER CARED FOR THESE SUB HUMANS….
      THIS IS THE CHICKENS COMING HOME TO ROOST….. PLAIN AND SIMPLE…..
      THIS IS THE RESULT OF YOUR “COEXIST “…

        • Major flaw in that statement. Most of the posters that throw racism into the discussions on TTAG don’t even OWN firearms. Nice attempt at a red herring though, Troll harder.

      • It’s the result of the degradation of the family unit and the lack of consequences for criminal behavior. The black community has suffered more than most at the hands of democrat policies.

        • The Democrats have replaced the physical plantation with a psychological one. And overseers with bureaucrats.

        • Consumerism is the new form of slavery, and it has NOTHING to do with color. Keep buying what Hollywood, Madison Ave and the Dimocratic Party tells you to sheeple.
          Remember to blame those “whites with guns” for all the problems too.

  13. “crimes that they allegedly committed while free on “affordable bail” awaiting trial for charges such as Class X felony armed violence, unlawful use of a weapon, and repeated use of a weapon by a felon.”

    Libertarians are for “Reform” in the justice system. In the bail system. They support open borders for illegal alien child molesters. In fact white Libertarians believe they are “helping” blacks” by getting black criminals out of jail to Murder Death Kill innocent black people.

    White Libertarians are big supporters of single motherhood as a “lifestyle choice”. They think it’s a great thing when a woman has 5 kids from 5 different men. Because they are non judgmental. They support replacing the father and his guns, with a gov check. And the guns of a big city police department.

    If you could shoot criminal dead when you caught them. Our government justice system would be smaller. It served us well during the days of the Old West. An armed society is really a more polite and honest society. Because back then we were A VERY judgemental society.

    Libertarians for the supersizing of government. They aren’t happy that the UK has pulled out of the EU.
    https://reason.com/archives/2014/09/09/the-libertarian-case-for-the-european-un

  14. Sooo this diversity thing is working out really well,, right???,
    Why is it when a WHITE does the dirty, the whole world has too know about it? Bbbbut when a protected class , ( which is everyone EXCEPT a WHITE person) does the dirty, the media & politicians don’t want anyone to know about it. Too many so called minorities in prison they all cry, well guess what? It’s the MINORITY’s doing all the crimes… God , how much more stupid can Lib’s get ?

  15. As horrible as these policies are, its simply proving the point the government doesn’t and never has had an interest in protecting you or anyone else. Not that they even could if they wanted to. The government needs these criminals to keep you in line. The left *loves* these criminals as an excuse to take your guns away and leave you even more of a victims.

    It’s further proof protecting yourself and your family is your job first and foremost. It’s also further proof to vote against every liberal you can, because they hate you, and hate America.

  16. So… if you get caught by the ATF with an undocumented suppressor, they stomp you into the ground, but when these murderers kill people, they get pocket change bail and slap on the wrist sentences.

  17. $200 bond for assaulting a cop. Wow I couldn’t post bond and got two years in this state. Chicago, hmm , do you get your gunm back too?

    • Maybe don’t assault people? Just a thought there, you loser piece of shit. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the cop you assaulted wasn’t the first. You likely had a history of assaulting people and getting away with it, until you ran into someone who didn’t take your shit.

  18. the blue city blue state governance model has failed
    chicago baltimore san francisco et al are the evidence
    what cannot continue wont
    this decade will see the 2 americas come into being that democrats have used as a campaign slogan all these years
    only it will be red america and blue america
    red america will be known for freedom economic opportunity and low crime
    blue america will largely be dystopian in nature

  19. The story of gun crime in the U.S has to be told……we don’t have gun crime in the United States because Americans own guns. We have gun crime in the United States because of democrat party policies that allow violent, repeat gun offenders to commit gun crime and murder. These policies are implemented by democrat party judges, prosecutors and the politicians who create them. There is a direct link between the individuals actually using guns for crime and murder and the policies of the democrat party that released them back into the communities the democrat party controls. This is the story that needs to be told, the story that will take the fight back to the anti-gun extremists….put them on the defenense, force them to confront their policies, explain their policies, instead of allowing them to push the attack against normal gun owners….

    • Not only that, but the democratic party is actively opposed to the best defense against this type of behavior. What is the best defense? A strong, moral family unit.

      • Tons of truth in these few posts.
        The Dems gradually took control of the now dysfunctional cities by calling those who disagree with their policies as RACIST.
        Now that the empirical evidence is in, and shows their policies are ALL failures, they call anyone who attempts to discuss the topic as RACIST. Am I the only one who sees a pattern here?

  20. This nominal/no bail scheme is nothing more than giving American citizens nearly the same rights as illegals. I say nearly because illegals don’t get prosecuted for criminal activity.

    (I guess I need a /sarc since half of the readership won’t get it.)

  21. This story makes me wonder if the Democratic Party policy here is to increase violent crime statistics as a way to “legitimize” their gun control agenda. When it comes to gun control, there is no good counter-argument to “if guns are the problem, why has there been a steady reduction in violent crime for several decades?” Let’s get those violent crime numbers up by releasing violent criminals back into the population! Maybe I’m just becoming a conspiracy theorist.

    • No, you’re onto something. When the government creates a massive problem, they get to increase their own power and budget in order to “fix” it.

  22. and the Democrat response is “tighten the screws more on legal gun owners.”

    seriously thought, to them it’s just the price to pay so they can feel like they have the moral high ground

  23. Cook County’s Kansas City Chief Judge Tim Evans is an absolute dolt.

    Gee, whom in their right mind would have thought this would
    not be a problem??

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here