Murder At New Lenox Gas Station: 'It's My Son Charlie'

JOLIET — Jennifer Baird was called to the stand to testify as the first witness in the murder trial of Kevin Johnson, the young man from Harvey, charged with fatally shooting Baird's son, Charlie, at the Circle K gas station on Nelson Road in New Lenox, five years ago.

Prosecutors from the Will County State's Attorney's Office approached Jen Baird and showed her a photo.

"It's my son, Charlie," the New Lenox resident of 25 years testified. "He died May 13, 2020. He was 19."

The second witness to testify was the store manager at the Circle K. Patricia Hudgens told the courtroom she was working at the time of the shooting of Baird, who was one of her regular customers.

Prosecutors showed the courtroom several minutes of video showing Baird staggering into the Circle K gas station, bleeding profusely, collapsing on the floor before regaining his footing, standing up against a counter, then eventually collapsing on the floor again, knocking over a Pepsi display, according to current New Lenox Deputy Police Chief Tim Perry. He was a sergeant and the night watchman who responded to the Circle K within minutes of the shooting.

Perry testified that he interviewed Baird, the victim, for about a minute, before the New Lenox ambulance crews arrived at the scene.

When Perry arrived, shortly after midnight, he noticed red droplets on the ground inside the Circle K, consistent with blood, plus "a hat and other garment of clothing," he testified.

Perry was asked by prosecutor Katie Rabenda to describe what he did next.

"Walked up to the front door of the business. I saw the victim walking toward the front entrance. He was bleeding and appeared to be injured," Perry testified Tuesday morning as the third prosecution witness for Rabenda and fellow prosecutors Lauren Senko and Christine Vukmir.

Besides Baird, the only other person inside the Circle K was the store clerk, "who locked herself in an office," Perry testified.

Perry immediately turned his attention back to Baird in hopes of obtaining information about the shooting, the suspect and a motive.

"I went to the victim and spoke to him," Perry testified, recalling that Baird appeared pale.

"He seemed like in shock, panic," Perry testified. "He was bleeding heavily from his back ... a projectile was lodged in his body. It appeared consistent with a gunshot wound."

A lawyer from the Will County Public Defender's Office tried to convince the judge not to allow Perry to testify about the interview statement he obtained from Baird, but Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak, who is deciding the defendant's case, overruled the objection and let Perry answer.

"His breathing became labored, as if he finished running," Perry testified. "He was becoming disoriented. I asked him if he knew who shot him, and he said no."

Perry also asked Baird if he could describe the suspect's vehicle, but Baird answered that he could not.

When Perry asked the shooting victim about the person who shot him, Baird responded that "it was an African-American male with a facemask."

Upon reviewing the video surveillance cameras from the New Lenox gas station, Perry issued a critical reach bulletin for Illinois police officers, notifying them that the car involved in the shooting was a dark-colored Hyundai Santa Fe.

New Lenox police quickly learned that the car involved in the Circle K shooting was stolen less than 10 hours earlier from the garage of someone's home in nearby Lockport.

During opening arguments, Jason Strzelecki, an Assistant Public Defender in Will County, informed the judge that his client is innocent of the murder charges. Strzelecki also notified the judge that later in the trial, his client's older brother Chris Johnson will be called to witness stand to furnish Kevin Johnson with an alibi for the night of the Circle K shooting in New Lenox.

Strzelecki argued that the prosecution's case is lacking of any eyewitnesses "that Kevin Johnson committed this crime. There's no murder weapon. No confession from Kevin Johnson "

He maintained that Chris Johnson's testimony will prove that "Kevin never left the residence" on the night of the New Lenox shooting.

Tuesday marked the first day of the bench trial for the young man from Harvey charged in a fatal 2020 shooting at a New Lenox gas station. The trial is being decided by Will County's longest serving judge, Amy Bertani-Tomczak. The judge — not a jury of 12 Will County citizens — will decide the New Lenox murder defendant's guilt or innocence.

Kevin Johnson, now 21, was 16 at the time of the slaying, and he has been in custody on $2.5 million bond since being charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Charles "Charlie" Baird, a 19-year-old New Lenox resident.

Baird was shot at a New Lenox Circle K gas station in May 2020 when police said that a car, which had been stolen two days earlier from Lockport, pulled up to a gas pump near where Baird’s car was parked.

Police said that while Baird was inside the gas station, a person sitting inside the stolen vehicle tried to open the door of Baird’s car, in an attempt to steal it.

Baird’s car was locked, police said, and when another person approached him, words were exchanged and Baird was shot in the back. He was taken to the hospital, where he died two days later from his injuries.

“We all have been waiting five long years for this day," Jennifer Baird told Patch in a statement. "All we want is justice for Charlie! Closure for this horrible tragedy that found us, so we can move on as a family. Justice for Charlie."

READ ALSO:

• ‘I Want It To Be Over’ Mom Says As New Lenox Murder Trial Delayed Again
• Defendant In New Lenox Homicide Says He Has Alibi, Victim's Mother Says 'BS'
• No Release For Harvey Man Awaiting Trial In New Lenox Homicide