Ford Heights Man Charged With Murder, Attempted Kidnapping: CCSO

FORD HEIGHTS, IL — A Ford Heights man is charged with murder, attempted murder and aggravated kidnapping in connection with a shooting last weekend that left two men dead and another injured, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced Friday. Montez Fulwiley, 30, is scheduled to appear for a bond hearing Friday.

At around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, sheriff’s police responded to a report of shots fired in the 1400 block of Embassy Lane and a report of a gunshot victim in the 1000 block of Lexington Circle in Ford Heights, according to Dart.

When authorities arrived, officers found a 29-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his head, conscious, and transported him to Franciscan Health Dyer in Indiana, according to the Cook County Sheriff's Office.

While at the Lexington address, the sheriff's office said that another man with a gunshot wound was found at 1421 Embassy Lane. When officers arrived, they found Leon Franklin, 41, the resident of the home, unconscious on the ground, as well as Lester Jackson, 37, of the 1400 block of East 15th Street in Ford Heights, unconscious inside the home.

Both men had suffered gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff's office.

An investigation found Fulwiley, of the 1300 Block of Berkeley in Ford Heights, had held a woman at gunpoint inside the home just prior to the shooting, according to the sheriff's office.

Fulwiley was arrested by sheriff’s police Wednesday and subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempt murder and one count of aggravated kidnapping/armed with firearm, according to the sheriff's office.

He is scheduled to appear for a bond hearing Friday at the Markham Courthouse.

Anyone charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty in court.