By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Timothy Ward | Illinois Dept. of Corrections
A man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for fatally shooting Charzelle Hayes during an argument in the West Side North Lawndale neighborhood in 2015.
Timothy Ward, 27, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, and being a felon in possession of a firearm on Monday before Judge Dennis Porter, according to Cook County court records.
On the morning of July 18, 2015, Ward was standing outside a van he'd been riding in with eight other people when the 25-year-old Hayes and others came up to him and his friends in the 3500 block of West Grenshaw, prosecutors said at Ward's bond hearing.
Minutes before, the van, driven by Ward’s wife, had stopped in front of a home there because some passengers wanted to use the bathroom, prosecutors said.
At some point, someone from Hayes’ group punched one of the occupants of the van who had been standing outside with Ward, prosecutors said. That’s when Ward pulled out a handgun and shot Hayes.
Ward and the others then jumped back into the van and drove off, prosecutors said.
Hayes, shot in the arm and chest, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Shortly after the shooting, police stopped the van and found a revolver containing seven expended shell casings, a holster and box of ammunition under the front passenger seat where Ward had been sitting, prosecutors said. Officers also lifted a fingerprint off a tray inside the ammunition box, which was later identified as Ward’s.
Tests taken at the Illinois State Police crime lab later revealed the gun from the van was the weapon used to kill Hayes, prosecutors said. Ward fled to Tennessee, where he was picked up for a parole violation.
The Carpentersville resident, who is married with children, admitted to detectives that he killed Hayes, authorities said.
Judge Porter sentenced Ward to 14 years in prison Monday, according to court records. He will receive credit for 370 days served in the Cook County Jail.
Ward, who previously served a five-year sentence for robbery, was booked into the Stateville Correctional Center to begin serving his sentence Tuesday, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.