Former Blue Island resident found not guilty of murder

A former Blue Island man was acquitted Friday of first-degree murder charges stemming from the June 2019 shooting death of another man in that city, according to the defendant’s attorney.

Christopher Irving was found not guilty Friday following a bench trial in the Markham courthouse and released from jail Saturday, where he had been held without bond following the June 26, 2019 shooting, attorney Michael Ettinger said.

Irving was charged in the shooting death of Francisco Avila-Murillo of Blue Island after police responded just before 7 a.m. to the area of Vincennes Road and Collins Street. Police at the time said the two men had argued before shots were fired.

Avila-Murillo was pronounced dead at the scene, and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said that he died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide.

Irving, who testified in his own defense during the trial before Cook County Circuit Judge Carl Boyd, had argued the shooting was in self-defense, Ettinger said Monday.

Irving and Avila-Murillo were driving in opposite directions down an alley, but there was not enough room for both vehicles to pass, Ettinger said.

Irving, who lived in Blue Island, worked as a landscaper and was driving a truck with a trailer attached, Ettinger said.

He said there wasn’t an argument between the men, but Avila-Murillo came at his client with a hammer. Irving has a concealed carry license and fired at the man in self-defense, an argument the judge accepted, Ettinger said.

Irving’s co-worker, who was in the passenger seat of Irving’s truck, called 911 and testified that he saw Avila-Murillo armed with a hammer, Ettinger said.

He said that Irving had been held without bond, and that he had tried unsuccessfully to have the judge set bond for his client. During his incarceration, Irving, who is single, sold his Blue Island home, the attorney said.

Ettinger said his client’s trial had gotten underway but was then halted three times. The delay was due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Illinois Supreme Court’s temporary suspension of the speedy trial act because of the pandemic.

Ettinger said that Boyd had ordered Irving be released from jail immediately following the acquittal, but that he was not released until Saturday.

“It’s just sad,” Ettinger said. “You had a minor traffic issue and it got into deadly force.”