Felon charged with murdering 2, wounding 3 at birthday gathering

A 39-year-old convicted felon allegedly opened fire during a birthday gathering in Austin over the weekend, killing two people and wounding three others.

Timmy Jordan was also injured when one of the victims, Michael Mickey — who had a concealed carry license — returned fire, striking Jordan twice, Cook County prosecutors said Monday.

Mickey, 35, died after Saturday’s shooting in the 100 block of North Pine Avenue. Also killed was 47-year-old Lunyea Wilson. The other victims, all in their 30s, survived. Hours before the 2 a.m. shooting, Mickey, Wilson and at least five others had been planning to celebrate a family member and friend’s birthday at a bowling alley when they realized all the venues were closed or about to close. That’s when a friend invited them to his place to hang out and listen to music, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.

There, the group met Jordan, their friend’s neighbor, for the first time.

Tensions rose when a woman who was hanging out with Jordan loudly confronted the group in the backyard after she thought someone called her “baby girl,” Murphy said.

Though that was resolved as a “miscommunication,” Jordan began yelling and told the group that “this was his mama house and he didn’t care how many people you got with you, you gotta get going,” Murphy said.

But even before the guests could leave, Jordan allegedly pulled out a gun and sprayed them with bullets, firing seven to 10 rounds.

After Mickey shot Jordan, Jordan tried to run but collapsed between two cars. Jordan, who remained hospitalized Monday, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he’s been updated from grave to critical condition, Murphy said.

Jordan, who was on electronic monitoring for a pending unlawful use of a weapon case, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. He has five prior felony convictions, Murphy said.

A 29-year-old man was charged with reckless homicide for his alleged involvement in a crash that killed another motorist on the West Side last week.

Damion Laird accelerated through a red light and T-boned James Wells’ 2007 Toyota Camry at the intersection of Laramie Avenue and Jackson Boulevard Friday, Cook County prosecutors said.

The impact on the driver’s side caused Wells’ sedan to spin through the intersection before it hit a pole, throwing Wells through the back seat, where officers found him hanging partly out of the rear window, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said Monday.

Wells, 31, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Laird refused medical treatment at the scene of the accident, but he consented to a DUI kit at Loretto Hospital, Murphy said. Those results are pending.

Laird admitted to police he was behind the wheel at the time of the crash and that he had two to three shots of D’usse Cognac Brandy earlier in the evening, Murphy said.

Laird, a high school graduate, had been working full time at U.S. Foods for over a year, his attorney said. He has a 3-year-old son and is engaged to be married to his fiancée, whom he’s been dating for eight years.

“This is a tragic accident, and accidents do happen,” Laird’s attorney said.

Judge Susana L. Ortiz ordered Laird held on $50,000 bail.