3 charged in murder of Richardson's brother
Prosecutors on Wednesday charged three Chicago men with murder in the slaying earlier this week of Lee Richardson, the older brother of New York Knicks basketball player Quentin Richardson.
The Richardson family, who gathered in their father's Flossmoor home Wednesday afternoon, mourned the death of the 31-year-old aspiring rap music producer and Navy veteran and said they were grateful to police for catching the suspects so quickly.
The news was devastating for the family, which lost another brother, Bernard, to a murder in 1992 that was never solved.
"Unfortunately, we've been through this before," said Richardson's sister, Rochelle.
"I really, really want to commend the Chicago Police Department for their immediate action and apprehending the criminals. Because, before, we never knew who killed Bernard," she said.
Lee Richardson was shot four times during a robbery Monday as he and his father, Lee Richardson Sr., were leaving the son's South Side home, according to authorities.
Elbert Dunnigan, 24, of the 4900 block of South Federal Street, was charged with murder and armed robbery, said Tom Stanton, a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Gino Wilson, 18, of the 9600 block of South Calhoun Avenue, was also charged with murder and with two counts of armed robbery.
Stanton said Dunnigan and Wilson shot Richardson. Ishmael Clark, 29, of the 9100 block of South Phillips Avenue, was charged with murder, armed robbery and attempted murder of a police officer.
Clark was the driver of the gray minivan that led police on a chase after the shooting and tried to run down a police officer, Stanton said.
Dunnigan and Clark were on parole for violent crimes--Dunnigan for a weapons charge and Clark for attempted murder and aggravated kidnapping.
Clark was paroled in November 2004 after serving six years on a 1996 conviction for his part in the kidnapping, ransoming and shooting of a man he and others stuffed in a trunk in Evanston. The man was left for dead but survived, according to court records.
Wilson was in police custody at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park after breaking a leg at the end of the police chase. Before charges were approved against him later Wednesday, he was being held on a murder warrant issued in February by Kankakee County prosecutors.
Rochelle Richardson said the family wanted justice but did not want to spend their energy with rage at the criminals. Instead, they remained focused on their brother's life and his last moments before he died on the operating table at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn on Monday afternoon.
She said her brother was conscious before he went into surgery. She kissed him on the forehead and said she would see him when he woke up, but then the surgery stretched on for five hours, she said.
"I said he's been in there way too long, and then the doctor came out with a long explanation, and she wasn't saying he's in recovery."
Just before noon Monday, Richardson and his father, Lee Richardson Sr., 62, were leaving the son's home in the 500 block of West 115th Street when a gray Dodge Minivan registered to Clark's address pulled up, and the three men pulled guns to rob the Richardsons, police said.
Richardson, whom family called "Little Lee" because of his father's name, fought back, his sister said.
"He was definitely the protector of the family. I think that was definitely what happened," she said.
Dunnigan and Wilson allegedly opened fire and shot Richardson four times before the three robbers fled in the van. Witnesses called 911 immediately, and police in the area quickly spotted the van and chased them, zigzagging northward through streets in the Beverly neighborhood before the van crashed into the front steps of the Renaissance nursing home at 2940 W. 87th St.
The chase continued on foot for a couple of blocks before the police officers caught the three men. In addition to several items that appeared to have been stolen in other robberies, police recovered two handguns from the men.
Rochelle Richardson said she was nearby working and was able to get to the hospital quickly to see her brother, who was conscious.
Her father also was hospitalized because of the stress of the tragedy, she said. The family was shocked when their brother did not survive surgery. Although they knew his wounds were grave, "I thought he was going to be fine," she said. "We did not believe he was going to pass away."
As the family gathered to grieve, the pain had an all-too-familiar feel, she said. In addition to Bernard's murder, their mother, Emma, died in 1992.
Rochelle Richardson said her brother Quentin, who was traveling with the Knicks when he received the news, would not be making any public comments. He was released from the team indefinitely and flew home Monday to be with his family.
She said the team had been supportive. During an interview with a reporter, she received a condolence phone call from the limousine service that drives the family when they travel to New York to see Quentin play.
Funeral arrangements would be private, she said.
Lee Richardson founded a rap production company called Catalyst01 Productions. Richardson and his partner were producing for Chicago rapper Maurice Mahon, his sister said. Rochelle Richardson said her brother arranged for Mahon to perform earlier this year at a United Negro College Fund fundraiser that she helps organize annually. He was very proud to be able to help raise money for the cause, she said.
Mahon "was a smash. They loved him," she said. "And Lee put it all together."
