Crime & Safety
Mother of Slain Son Hopes Reward Will Lead to Arrest
Cook County Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest in connection with the death of 19-year-old Justin Murray.
Five months after 19-year-old Justin Murray was shot and killed in front of his grandmother’s home in Evanston, his murderer is still at large.
Now, his mother, Carolyn Murray, is hoping a $1,000 reward and the promise of anonymity will help. Murray has enlisted the help of Cook County Crime Stoppers, a volunteer-run nonprofit that will pass out 1,200 flyers at the site of Murray’s death on Brown Avenue this weekend. Crime Stoppers is offering the reward to the first person who provides a tip that leads to an arrest.
“It would definitely bring closure to that case,” Murray said.
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Police are still investigating the deaths of Justin Murray and 23-year-old Javar Bamberg, who was shot and killed two weeks after Murray, according to Police Cmdr. Jason Parrott. But police say their work has been stymied by a lack of cooperation from witnesses.
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“We know there’s somebody out there. We have an idea of who’s involved,” Parrott said. “It’s just a matter of getting somebody to come forward, getting the right person to come forward.”
George McDade, chairman of Cook County Crime Stoppers, said the group provides complete anonymity to anyone who wants to give a tip in the case, whether it’s over the phone, online or through a smartphone app.
“It’s entirely anonymous,” he said. “I don’t want anybody’s name. I don’t write down their phone number, I don’t call them.”
Residents can call 1-800-535-STOP or visit www.cookcountycrimestoppers.org to share information. They can also text a tip to the number 274637 with the word CPD in the message.
McDade said his group hands out flyers in different communities almost every weekend, seeking information in homicides and other felony cases.
“When the family or friends are handing out the flyer, it’s personal, it’s no longer a statistic,” he said. “You’re talking to somebody who knew this person when they were alive.”
“The community does want to get involved,” he added. “The community does want to do what’s right.”
Parrott said police are able to use anonymous tips to lead them in an investigation, or to establish a motive. However, he said anonymous tips are complicated by the fact that anyone accused of a crime has the right to confront his or her accuser in court—meaning eyewitness testimony may not be useful unless the eyewitness is willing to testify in court.
“We want to solve every crime, every homicide. I wish that was reality, but there’s sometimes a lot of obstacles in between,” he said.
Police are hoping the Crime Stoppers reward will prompt someone to come forward with information that is useful. Parrott also said there is a possibility that police may arrest someone for an unrelated crime who saw something in one of the murders, and that person may be willing to provide eyewitness testimony in return for a reduced sentence.
“If I was in Ms. Murray’s place, if one of my children were the victim of a homicide, I don’t think even being a policeman I could be happy until I knew that door was closed on that particular chapter of my life,” Parrott said. “I’d want to know that justice was brought to the person that was involved in that murder.”
Murray said she is fighting not just for a resolution in her own son’s case, but for reduced gun violence throughout Evanston. A longtime advocate for gun safety in the community, she began trying to organize a gun buyback program last summer. Not long after 14-year-old Evanston Township High School Student Dajae Coleman was shot and killed in September, the city approved her idea for a gun buyback program, which was held on Dec. 15. She hopes to organize another gun buyback program this summer.
Gun violence is a problem for the whole community, not just those directly affected, Murray said. She recounted a recent trip to the Virgin Islands, where she met someone who was considering a move to Evanston.
“He said, ‘I was interviewing for an opportunity to go to Kellogg,’” Murray recalled. “But then he said, ‘You get a lot of violence there.’”
“It’s really sad to see us plagued with this problem,” she continued. “As soon as Dajae was killed, [the city was] like, hurry up, let’s have a gun buyback.”
“I want them to be ahead of the game.”
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