A person who as soon as sat on Illinois’ dying row for killing three Latin King gang members in Joliet is again behind bars, this time in Wisconsin on allegations that he had sexual contact with a baby beneath 13.
Michael A. Blackwell, 60, who reinvented himself after jail as a “prison justice and police accountability organizer” targeted on parole reform and civilian oversight of the Chicago Police Division, was transferred to Milwaukee County on Friday after a Cook dinner County fugitive unit arrested him in Blue Island final month.
In February 1992, a Will County decide ordered Blackwell executed for opening fireplace at an October 1990 get together the place a gaggle of Latin Kings beat his good friend for being a Two-Six gang member, in response to trial testimony. Prosecutors stated Blackwell pulled a gun and fired 14 rounds in 15 seconds, killing the three Latin Kings and wounding two different partygoers. He had no prior convictions on the time and instructed the decide at sentencing that he would commerce locations with the victims if he might, in response to a contemporaneous Chicago Tribune report.
Blackwell later gained a brand new trial after the Illinois Supreme Court docket discovered that prosecutors improperly used 15 of their 17 peremptory challenges to exclude girls from the jury pool. His unique jury nonetheless had 5 girls on it, however the court docket discovered others have been improperly excluded.
By the point the case returned to court docket in 1996, two state witnesses had been killed. A brand new jury convicted him of three counts of second-degree homicide and one rely of aggravated battery with a firearm. They weren’t instructed he had beforehand been sentenced to dying. The decide who initially sentenced him to dying imposed a 49-year sentence after the second trial. Blackwell served 24 years earlier than his launch in 2015, then turned to “coverage work in prison justice reform,” in response to his LinkedIn profile.
He’s now charged in Milwaukee County with first-degree little one sexual assault, in response to court docket data. A decide there set his bail at $20,000 on Saturday. Prosecutors say he faces as much as sixty years in jail if convicted.
Milwaukee police started investigating Blackwell after responding to a house on July 26. In line with a redacted copy of the Wisconsin criticism offered by the Cook dinner County Sheriff’s Workplace, a baby confirmed they’d been inappropriately touched and later recognized Blackwell throughout a forensic interview. The criticism says the kid recounted the encounter, saying they have been crying and scared, and instructed Blackwell to cease. The kid allegedly instructed investigators the incident occurred round July 16, 2024, after they have been 8 or 9 years outdated.
Cook dinner County investigators started looking for Blackwell on October 3 after Wisconsin authorities notified them he had fled their state. Officers realized he was staying at a residence within the 6200 block of South Fairfield Avenue and repeatedly used Metra to journey to Blue Island and Evergreen Park, in response to a press release from the Cook dinner County Sheriff’s Workplace. On October 10, fugitive apprehension officers discovered him in Hart Park close to the 12300 block of Western Avenue in Blue Island and took him into custody.
Blackwell’s solely different brush with the regulation regionally got here on July 29 when Chicago Police Officers responding to a “particular person needed” name stopped him within the 1200 block of West 63rd Road. Officers stated he gave them two completely different names and two incorrect birthdates. He by no means confirmed up for court docket to face these fees, though he did plead responsible after being discovered by the fugitive apprehension group. A decide sentenced him to 2 days.
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