A barber in Chicago has been arrested and charged with murder after a customer refused to pay $15 for a haircut.
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Deshon Mcadory has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 31-year-old Christian McDougald, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The 40-year-old was held on $250,000 bail Sunday.
According to Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Meehan, McDougald began arguing with barbers in the business located in Maywood, a suburb of Chicago on May 27 around 4 p.m. As the argument escalated, McDougald followed Mcadory to the back of the shop. Mcadory then allegedly shot McDougald in the chest.
Authorities stated that a gun that is believed to the murder weapon was found in Mcadory’s coat and witnesses identified Mcadory as the shooter. Furthermore, ammunition matching his shell casing were found in his car.
McDougald was transported to Loyola University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Mcadory’s attorney, Anthony Burch, claimed in court that Mcadory, who is licensed to carry, was “retreating” into the barbershop and characterized McDougald as the “aggressor.”
Burch also positioned Mcadory as a model member of the community who has strong business ties in the area as he’s employed independent contractors.
He drew a contrast to McDougald who had two prior convictions, including a felony in 2004 for possessing cannabis.
Mcadory was not the only person arrested in connection to McDougald’s death. His business partner, 43-year-old Samuel Williams, was arrested for unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and also appeared in court on Sunday.
Williams also has his own criminal record with four previous felony convictions. His bail was set at $25K.
The shooting was captured on surveillance video and three guns that belonged to Williams were found at the shop. Both men will be in court again on Wednesday.
McDougald’s death came just as the city of Chicago suffered a number of fatalities which left four people killed and 28 injured over the Memorial Day weekend. According to the Sun-Times, shootings are up 36% in comparison to last year around this time.
Superintendent David Brown lamented the spike in violence to ABC7.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Brown said. “No one is celebrating anything. Four people lost their lives over the weekend.”
Brown added that data will help officers figure out where they are needed the most.
“We’re hyper-focused on the parts of the city that have the highest violence and once we have success there we try to scale that success, increase capacity while officer at the same time balancing officer wellness,” Brown said.
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Just the week prior, 48 people were shot in the city and 11 died of their injuries. As theGrio reported, Verndell “Vee” Smith, a 32-year-old Chicago dance instructor, was recently shot and killed. Mayor Lori Lightfoot held a press conference in which she stressed “holistic interventions and solutions.”
“This is exactly how public safety is supposed to work, not law enforcement alone,” Lightfoot said. “We know that’s a failed approach…We have to be united together if we’re going to be successful.”
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