Eyewitness: Kevin Johnson Fatally Shot Charlie Baird At Gas Station

JOLIET — The most dramatic testimony so far during this week's murder trial of Kevin Johnson happened late Thursday afternoon, when Will County prosecutor Christine Vukmir called Illinois Department of Corrections inmate Marquez Whitfield to the witness stand. Johnson is accused in the May 2020 gas station shooting death of 19-year-old New Lenox resident Charlie Baird.

After about 30 minutes of testimony, Vukmir summoned up her entire case by asking Whitfield one straightforward question, "What was the name of the person that fired the gun in that shooting?"

Whitfield, 20, sat at the witness stand for several seconds. As the courtroom remained silent, Whitfield leaned forward into his courtroom microphone. He was ready to give his two-word answer for Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak and everyone seated in the spectator gallery of Courtroom 405.

"Kevin Johnson," Whitfield declared. Whitfield, who turns 21 this year, still has about a year left on his prison sentence for an aggravated weapons conviction out of Cook County.

During her effort at cross-examination, one of Johnson's Will County Public Defenders, Samantha Kerins, was unable to chip away at the prosecution witness' identification of her client as Baird's killer at the Circle K gas station pumps around midnight on May 11, 2020.

After the judge recessed the trial proceedings until Friday morning, about two dozen friends and family members of Baird convened in the fourth-floor hallway, and some of them were pleased. One young man exclaimed, "That was huge!" and another person declared, "that was the biggest thing that's ever happened."

At times during his afternoon testimony, Whitfield appeared reluctant to publicly identify Johnson by name when questioned regarding events leading up to and after the New Lenox shooting. At one point, Vukmir asked Whitfield a series of questions in reference to his 2020 interviews with New Lenox police, but as the prosecutor kept asking him about "Kevin Johnson, your friend," Whitfield did not respond, and tried to raise his hand into the air, even though he was wearing his baby blue Department of Corrections prison uniform and in handcuffs strapped to his belt.

Finally, the judge noticed he was wearing handcuffs and wanted to address her.

"She keeps saying 'friends,'" Whitfield said, referring to prosecutor Vukmir. "We're not friends at all."

From that moment forward, Vukmir stopped referring to Johnson as his friend, and the witness seemed more at ease in implicating Johnson for murdering Baird.

Vukmir's last question for Whitfield asked him who pulled the trigger, killing Charlie Baird, at the Circle K gas station.

"I have no further questions for this witness," Vukmir announced after Whitfield identified Johnson as the shooter.

Whitfield Admits Stealing Car In Lockport

During Thursday's testimony, Vukmir and Whitfield acknowledged the signing of a use immunity agreement indicating that Whitfield would not be prosecuted for any incriminating testimony he gave regarding his role in any crimes leading up to and including the New Lenox gas station homicide.

"I'm going to grant you this order granting you use immunity," Judge Bertani-Tomczak said.

Whitfield testified he was responsible for entering a Lockport man's open garage in the middle of the afternoon on May 9, 2020, and stealing the man's sport utility vehicle.

Previous trial testimony and Ring video from the neighborhood indicated that two people were walking alongside a red or orange car prior to stealing the dark Hyundai Santa Fe SUV with the keys inside the vehicle.

"I don't remember getting out of no red car," Whitfield told the prosecutor during her early line of questions.

According to Whitfield, the SUV he stole from the Lockport subdivision was driven around the Chicago and Harvey areas over the next couple of days. As for Whitfield, he was one of at least three people inside the stolen vehicle when they pulled into the New Lenox gas station on Nelson Road near Route 30 on May 10, 2020.

"Yes, ma'am," Whitfield responded to Vukmir's question asking him if he was in the stolen SUV.

Whitfield was not sure of the time. "I don't know. It was dark," he testified.

When asked where in New Lenox he and the others arrived, Whitfield answered, "That fuel place."

Upon arriving at the Circle K, Whitfield testified he was in the passenger seat, and he opened the door and walked behind the passenger side door of Baird's vehicle.

"I just know I exited. I touched the car door. The car was locked," Whitfield testified. "I just know it was green. It was parked at the gas pump."

Whitfield told the courtroom he approached Baird's vehicle and went "to the doors to see if the car's unlocked."'

After realizing Baird's vehicle was locked, Whitfield testified he retreated quickly back to the stolen SUV parked on the opposite fuel pumps. Just 15 years old at the time, Whitfield was also armed with a handgun, he told the courtroom.

"Got back into the car," Whitfield testified.

"What was the next thing that happened?" Vukmir inquired.

"I hid the gun in my book bag," Whitfield told the courtroom.

"Did someone exit that vehicle?" Vukmir followed up.

"Yeah," the witness answered. "They went to where the victim was at. He walked to his car."

Video surveillance footage played during the trial showed Baird had parked at the fuel pump, walked inside the gas station and returned to his vehicle. The shooting happened around midnight.

When Vukmir asked Whitfield what happened next, he just sat silent at the witness stand.

"Did you understand the question?" Judge Bertani-Tomczak asked him. "Then, why don't you answer?"

"Yeah, they had a gun, black handgun," Whitfield testified.

Whitfield described the gun in great detail and admitted it was the same gun he had with him when he approached Baird's car moments earlier.

What else did he remember about the shooter's attire?

"Just a ski mask," Whitfield told the courtroom. "I heard, 'Don't move!' That's when the victim tried to run, toward the gas station."

Whitfield was asked to describe the shooting victim, Baird.

"He was male, 22 or 23, he was white, younger white guy," he testified.

What happened next, Vukmir inquired.

"I heard a shot go off," Whitfield testified.

It looked like the victim was struck with a bullet behind the shoulder, Whitfield testified.

As for shooter, "he got back in the car, in the backseat," Whitfield recalled. "He said he feared for his life."

Whitfield testified that he and the shooter were eventually dropped off at a house in Harvey. Harvey is where Johnson resided. When asked how many people exited the stolen SUV, Whitfield answered, "just two of us."

"What was the shooter wearing that night?" Vukmir followed up.

"All black," Whitfield answered.

When asked if the shooter's clothing had another distinguishing mark, Whitfield replied, "Stripe on his pants."

Throughout the trial, prosecutors have played multiple videos in court showing Johnson, the murder defendant, wearing the same outfit — a black athletic jumpsuit with white stripes. Witnesses and videos played during the trial also have showed Johnson walking with a bow-legged gait as a result of an injury he suffered in 2019. A grainy video played of the gas station shooting showed the shooter scampering back to the getaway car with a noticeable limp or gait.

Whitfield testified it was his idea to confront Baird as the customer was emerging from the gas station and returning to his vehicle at the pump.

"I told them, 'Let's see what's he got.' Yeah, that's when I passed the gun off," Whitfield testified.

During Tuesday's opening statements, Will County Public Defender Jason Strzelecki argued that the prosecution's case was lacking of any eyewitnesses "that Kevin Johnson committed this crime. There's no murder weapon. No confession from Kevin Johnson."

Strzelecki also notified the judge that later in the trial, his client's older brother Chris Johnson will be called to the witness stand to furnish Kevin Johnson with an alibi for the night of the Circle K shooting in New Lenox.