Prosecutors: Ex-cop offered man $400 to kill his girlfriend
By Bill Dwyer Sun-Times Media wdwyer@pioneerlocal.com July 15, 2011 11:54AM
Chervon Alexander, 29, was shot and killed in a River Forest parking lot on Monday. She was shot three times, according to police.
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Updated: July 18, 2011 4:26PM
A former North Chicago police officer offered to pay a man $400 — including $200 upfront — to kill his girlfriend, prosecutors alleged Friday during a court hearing for the three men charged with killing the woman.
Cook County Judge William Weiss ordered Devin A. Bickham, 39, his 20-year-old son also named Devin Bickham, and Cardell Taylor, 35, held without bail.
Assistant State’s Attorney Maureen O’Brien said the elder Bickham worked through his son, with whom he lived in Blue Island, to hire Taylor, of Chicago to kill 29-year-old Chervon Alexander of Chicago.
And after the younger Bickham and Taylor were stopped by police after the shooting, Taylor said “I want the rest of money now,” O’Brien said.
The older Bickham had been involved in a romantic relationship with Alexander, who thought they would be married in August, O’Brien said. But his wife was unaware of his relationship, O’Brien said.
Authorities said the older Bickham, who has five children, wanted Alexander dead because she was pressuring him to marry her.
Both the younger Bickham and Taylor confessed to the plot to kill Alexander. Attorneys Friday said Taylor has been arrested 15 times but never convicted. His most serious charges include battery, theft and drugs.
The older Bickham worked briefly as a North Chicago police officer a decade ago and was co-founder of the Chi-City Blitz, a semi-pro football team that plays in the Great Midwest Football League on the South Side.
River Forest police said he drove Alexander, of the 1300 block of North Mayfield, to a parking lot near Division Street and Harlem Avenue in River Forest about 10 p.m. Monday, telling her it was so they could talk.
Then he texted his son, who handed Taylor his father’s .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol and drove the two of them to where Alexander and his father were sitting in their car, authorities said.
Taylor got out, walked over to the passenger side of their car and began shooting Alexander, O’Brien said. Even after the gun jammed several times, “He continued to shoot,” O’Brien said.
Alexander was hit three times — in the head, chest and shoulder, police said.
Taylor and the younger Bickham fled in their car, and several people called 911 to report the shooting, including the elder Bickham, reportedly to cover his involvement in the crime, police said.
Bickham and Taylor were later stopped by police in Forest Park, and the gun was recovered from the car, O’Brien said.
When police brought them back to the crime scene, the elder Bickham told police he didn’t know either, nor did he did recognize the car they were driving — even though he owns it, O’Brien said.
Court records show the older Bickham, who until recently delivered furniture with a leased 26-foot cargo truck, was under heavy financial pressure in recent months. His company, Bick Express, was involuntarily dissolved by the state three days before the murder, and he had declared bankruptcy twice since last year.
Outside the courtroom Friday, more than 30 people, some relatives of the victim, stood waiting. One young girl cried on an older woman’s shoulder.
Alexander’s cousin, Trey Wilson, called Alexander a kind-hearted person.
“Everyone liked her,” he said.
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