Verdict is in cop killing animal is found guilty

GUILTY 1st Degree Murder of Police Officer Flisk and CHA Officer Peters.

GUILTY of Firearm Discharge on Police Officer Flisk and CHA Officer Peters.

GUILTY of Murder of Peace Officer.

GUILTY of Burglary.
Dean C. Angelo, Sr.
President
Chicago Lodge 7
Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge #7

Cook County jury on Wednesday convicted a man of killing a Chicago police evidence technician and a second victim in 2010 as the officer investigated a car burglary on the Southeast Side.

The announcement came in a courtroom packed with Chicago police officers and relatives of Officer Michael Flisk. Flisk's family members began crying as the verdict was read, putting their arms around each other in the second row of courtroom gallery.

Guilty verdict
Jose M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune
Nora Flisk, left, widow of Chicago police Officer Michael Flisk, and her family leave court in Chicago on May 6, 2015, after a jury found Timothy Herring Jr. guilty of killing Flisk and Stephen "Sweet Pea" Peters.

Timothy Herring Jr.
Chicago Police Department
Timothy Herring Jr., 24, was convicted May 6, 2015, of first-degree murder and burglary in the 2010 killings of Chicago police Officer Michael Flisk and former Chicago Housing Authority Officer Stephen “Sweet Pea” Peters.

Nora Flisk, center, widow of Chicago police Officer Michael Flisk, and her family return to court April 27, 2015, after a lunch break on the first day of Timothy Herring Jr.'s murder trial at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago. Herring was convicted May 6, 2015, of fatally shooting Flisk and former CHA officer Stephen Peters.

Nora Flisk, center, wife of Chicago police Officer Michael Flisk, leaves court April 27, 2015, during lunch break on the first day of Timothy Herring Jr.'s murder trial at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago.

Family members of police Officer Michael Flisk arrive for the first day of Timothy Herring Jr.'s murder trial at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago on April 27, 2015.

Flisk, 46, an evidence technician and father of four, was dusting for prints behind Stephen "Sweet Pea" Peters' home a day after Thanksgiving in November 2010 when he and Peters were fatally shot. Peters' beloved customized red Mustang GT convertible had been stripped of its stereo and other gear.

Prosecutors alleged that Timothy Herring Jr. had burglarized Peters' car and shot both victims when he learned Flisk had found a usable fingerprint. He shot both again when he noticed one of them moving, prosecutors said.

The jury was sequestered overnight and deliberated for more than seven hours before convicting Herring, 24, on charges of first-degree murder and burglary.

Herring faces mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.

He looked at family members and shook his head as sheriff’s deputies led him back to the lockup.

“I think this case is another example of the senseless violence that we see unfortunately here in Chicago and the easy use of guns to take away two lives,” State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez told reporters after the verdict. “My heart goes out to both families that lost loved ones.”

Neither family would be speaking publicly yet about the case, Alvarez said.

Jury deliberating in killing of Chicago cop and second victim
Jury deliberating in killing of Chicago cop and second victim
Flisk and Peters, a former Chicago Housing Authority police officer, were armed, but neither had time to draw his weapon.

Herring's fingerprint was found on a box that held a monitor stolen from Peters' car, according to prosecutors.

Two cousins of Herring's as well as three other witnesses testified that he confessed to them about the killings, but Herring's attorneys argued the cousins decided to turn on an easy target in exchange for a $10,000 cash reward for information on the killings.