A Cook County criminal court judge beaten last year in an apparent road-rage incident was shot to death early Monday in the West Chesterfield neighborhood on the Far South Side, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
Cook County Associate Judge Raymond Myles, 66, was found wounded after officers responded to a call of shots fired at 4:51 a.m. in the 9400 block of South Forest, police said.
A 52-year-old woman was shot in the leg and taken to Christ Advocate Medical Center, where she was in serious condition, police said.
The woman’s relationship to Myles was unclear.
Police didn’t give a motive for the killing, but said they don’t believe the shootings were random.
Myles’ identity was confirmed by the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Myles, who lived on the block where he was shot, was pronounced dead at Christ Advocate Medical Center at 5:33 a.m.
In September, Myles was trying to park his car on the South Side when another car collided with his. The other motorist punched Myles in the face when the judge began taking pictures of the damage, authorities say.
Myles reportedly suffered a fractured nose and other injuries requiring surgery. Deandre Hudson is facing an aggravated battery charge in the case. He is free on bond, records show.
In 2008, Myles ordered William Balfour, the estranged brother-in-law of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson, held without bail in the slayings of her mother, brother and nephew. Balfour was later convicted.
Myles presided over other high-profile cases, too, including pretrial hearings for the two men convicted in the Brown’s Chicken case involving seven people slain in a Palatine restaurant in 1993.
Chief Criminal Judge Leroy Martin said the news of Myles’ death shocked him and many who knew Myles in the criminal courthouse. Myles’ court call each day involved youth and drug offenders who landed at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse. The daily influx of mostly young men and people with substance abuse problems was a caseload Myles was passionate about.
“It was important to him, targeting young people and trying to keep them on the straight and narrow and out of the penitentiary,” Martin said Monday morning during an interview in his chambers.
“That gets lost when a lot of people think about what goes on here at 26th Street. He showed a lot of tough love, and I think people responded well on his call.”
Myles was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court in 1999, according to Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans.
“Judge Myles joined the bench with a wealth of experience in law and extensive service to the community. I have always known Judge Myles to be focused and determined in the pursuit of justice, and his conduct earned him the confidence and respect of the people who appeared before him,” Evans said in a statement.
“All of our colleagues at the Leighton Criminal Court Building will miss Judge Myles, who they came to know for his kindness and his impartial administration of justice.”