A Markham police officer who discovered a loaded firearm in a automobile owned and operated by a convicted assassin, solely to be fired when CWBChicago requested town’s police chief why he ordered the cop to let the convicted felon go, filed a whistleblower lawsuit towards the chief and town on Monday morning.
CWBChicago first reported on the site visitors cease and the officer’s firing final week.
Former Markham probationary police officer Kayla Heller alleges she was terminated after reporting to prosecutors and the Illinois State Police that Police Chief Jack Genius ordered the discharge of Tyrone Muhammad after she found a loaded Smith & Wesson inside his Chrysler 300’s heart console, in keeping with a grievance filed within the Circuit Courtroom of Cook dinner County.
Heller initially stopped Muhammad on October 8 as a result of his automobile’s plates had been suspended for lack of insurance coverage, in keeping with a report she filed.
Muhammad, who was convicted of a 1994 homicide in Chicago, served 20 years in jail earlier than being launched. He now heads a violence interruption program referred to as Ex-Cons for Group and Social Change. He has additionally introduced his candidacy to exchange retiring U.S. Senator Dick Durbin.
In line with the lawsuit, Heller was employed by the Metropolis of Markham on August 29, 2024, graduated from the police academy, and was licensed as a police officer on December 19, 2024. She started working as a probationary patrol officer that very same day and was topic to a one-year probationary interval underneath the division’s collective bargaining settlement. Her efficiency critiques had been described within the grievance as wonderful.
Shortly after arriving on the station with Muhammad, Heller was notified that Genius had ordered Muhammad’s launch and directed that his automobile be returned with out incurring towing charges, in keeping with the lawsuit and paperwork obtained by CWBChicago by a Freedom of Data Act request. Heller issued Muhammad a ticket for suspended registration, and the firearm was launched to an affiliate final month, the grievance alleges.
Heller claims she reported the incident the next morning to the Cook dinner County State’s Legal professional’s Workplace and the Illinois State Police. The lawsuit additional alleges Markham police command employees questioned her about these experiences throughout an interrogation final month that didn’t adjust to necessities of the Illinois Uniform Peace Officers’ Disciplinary Act.
The grievance states Heller was questioned extensively about her whistleblower exercise reasonably than any alleged misconduct and was requested whether or not different officers inspired her to go exterior her chain of command.
In line with the grievance, command employees questioned Heller extensively about whether or not Markham Sgt. Matt Carey inspired her to contact prosecutors or performed any function in her whistleblower exercise. Carey had beforehand expressed an curiosity in succeeding Genius as police chief, in keeping with the grievance.
The submitting alleges that Genius subsequently demoted Carey from administrative sergeant to patrol sergeant after studying that Heller communicated with him the morning after Muhammad’s arrest, believing Carey had inspired her to report the incident.
The lawsuit claims the demotion was retaliatory and tied each to Heller’s whistleblower grievance and Carey’s perceived problem to Genius’ management.
On December 8, 2025, CWBChicago knowledgeable Genius through e-mail that the outlet was engaged on a narrative about his determination to launch Muhammad and requested him a collection of questions in regards to the state of affairs. He by no means replied.
Later that day, the lawsuit alleges, Heller was ordered to report back to Genius’ workplace, the place she was knowledgeable she was being terminated for failing to efficiently full her probationary interval, which might have ended lower than two weeks later.
The grievance states her termination was efficient instantly and {that a} department-wide e-mail later introduced she was now not employed and was barred from police amenities with out authorization. The next day, she was allegedly requested to return to the police station to signal a backdated resignation memo, which her attorneys say had no authorized impact as a result of she had already been terminated.
Heller’s lawsuit alleges retaliation in violation of the Illinois Whistleblower Act, violation of her First Modification rights, wrongful termination, and violations of the Illinois Wage Fee and Assortment Act. She claims town didn’t pay greater than $10,000 in accrued trip and sick time following her termination.
The lawsuit seeks reinstatement, compensatory damages exceeding $100,000, again pay, advantages, lawyer charges, and statutory curiosity.
Neither Genius nor a publicist working for the Metropolis of Markham instantly responded to emailed inquiries in regards to the lawsuit on Monday morning.
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