Three men charged in Orland homicide

(From Sept. 24, 2009)

Three Orland Park men are each charged with one count of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 20-year-old Orland Park man last Saturday afternoon.

Brandon Hambrick, 21, of 14785 Lakeview Drive; Elry R. Lyle, 19, of 14304 Vintage Court; and Fadi A. Alkarim, 19, of 9830 El Cameno Lane, were all denied bond on Monday. They will remain in Cook County Jail until their next hearing scheduled for Oct. 8.

The men are accusedofshooting Jorge Mena at about 2:20 p.m. at the victim’s townhouse, at 9735 Ravinia Court in a drug deal gone wrong, according to Orland Park police Cmdr. Charles Doll.

The police investigation determined the victim was killed during an attempt by the suspects to steal “illegal drugs,” according to Cmdr. Doll. The townhouse at which the incident occurred is near Frontier Park, not far from the former police station.

Mena was pronounced dead at 3:36 p.m.atAdvocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn from a gunshot wound to the back, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Police recovered a handgun and a significant amountofmarijuana at the scene of the crime, Cmdr. Doll said. All the evidence was still being processed,asofMonday, he added.

Police are not yet identifying which of the three suspect was the shooter. All three men were involved in the crime, Cmdr. Doll said.

Lyle was also wounded from a gunshot, which Doll said was not intentional and occurred during the confrontation. Police are not looking for any more suspects.

“I don’t believe there is further dangertothe neighborhood,” Doll said.

All three men were arrested on Saturday, shortly after the shooting. Lyle was found by police in the area of the shooting while attempting to flee at about 2:40 p.m., Doll said. He was later released from the hospital and charged. Police then received a description of Hambrick. With the assistance of the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force, Hambrick was found hiding in a shed in the 14500 block of West Avenue, Doll said.Hewas arrested at about 5:25 p.m.

Police arrested Alkarim at his home at 8:25 p.m. Doll would not elaborate on the details of the investigation or about any witnesses to the crime. He said other people were interviewed.

Orland Park police are working with the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force and the Cook County States Attorney’s Office in the investigation.

The three men were held in the Orland Park Police Department detention facility until Monday when they were transferredto the Cook County Court, Bridgeview facility for a bond hearing.

Doll would not commentonany of the men’s previous criminal records, but Orland Park police reports show Lyle has been arrested six times since March 2008 and Hambrick has been arrested twice since April 2008.

Lyle pled guilty to criminal sexual abuse of a 14-year-old on May 14, 2008, and since has been charged with felony failure toregister as a sex offender, two counts of felony burglary and two counts of felony theft when he allegedly broke into a cellular phone kiosk on Aug.8, 2008.Hehas been cited twice in the past few months with possession and consumptionof alcohol by a minor and on Sept. 9 was charged with possession of cannabis. On April 16, 2008, he was charged with criminal trespass to property and on March 7 he was charged with assault and disorderly conduct.

Hambrick was charged with retail theft in April, 2008, and possession of cannabis in June, 2009.

This was the first homicide in Orland Park since April 6, when a woman was charged with killing her 2-year-old niece.

Visitation for Mena was held yesterday, Sept. 23, at McInerney’s Funeral Home in Chicago. A funeral Mass is to be offered this morning at 10 a.m. at St. Julie Billiart Church in Orland Park.