A 32-year-old Bellwood man is facing first-degree murder charges after Chicago police tracked him down in the northwest suburb of Des Plaines nearly seven weeks after a fatal shooting on the city's West Side. Lavonne Glenn was taken into custody on August 5 and is now charged with one count of first-degree murder, one count of murder with strong probability of death or injury, and one count of aggravated assault involving the discharge of a firearm in connection with the June 19 killing of 34-year-old Christopher Lakes in the Austin neighborhood.
Police were called to the 1100 block of North Latrobe Avenue just before 10 p.m. on June 19 for a report of a person shot, according to WGN-TV. Officers found the victim unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his chest and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Chicago police say the charges stem from Glenn's alleged involvement in the shooting, though what led to it remains unclear. CBS Chicago reported that the victim was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital before he died.
Public homicide records compiled from local police logs, cited by ABC7 Chicago and Chiraqology, identified the victim as Christopher Lakes, a name that was left out of early police charging announcements. The shooting unfolded during Chicago's Juneteenth holiday weekend, a stretch during which at least eight people were killed and 39 others were injured by gun violence citywide, per the same CBS Chicago report.
Early Leads and a Seven-Week Search
Hoodline's initial coverage of the Latrobe shooting reported that Area Four detectives were canvassing the block in the shooting's immediate aftermath, had interviewed a person of interest, and were reviewing neighborhood surveillance footage. It remains unclear exactly how investigators connected Glenn to the crime scene in the weeks that followed. Chicago police officers ultimately caught up with Glenn on August 5 in Des Plaines, a Cook County suburb located roughly 15 driving miles north of Bellwood and adjacent to O'Hare International Airport, according to distance data from Travelmath.
The geography of the case spans much of Cook County. Glenn lived in Bellwood, roughly 14 driving miles west of downtown Chicago and just across the border from the Austin neighborhood where the shooting happened, per Travelmath. Austin is Chicago's westernmost neighborhood, bordering near-west suburbs including Oak Park and Bellwood. Glenn is now set to appear in court for a detention hearing.
What Happens at the Detention Hearing
Illinois eliminated cash bail statewide in September 2023 under the Pretrial Fairness Act, and defendants charged with first-degree murder remain eligible for pretrial detention under the law. But prosecutors must file a specific petition and prove to a judge that the defendant poses a threat to public safety or a flight risk before he can be held without bond, according to Illinois Legal Aid Online. Illinois was the first state in the nation to do away with monetary bail.
The Austin neighborhood falls under the Chicago Police Department's 15th District, commanded by Nichelle Fraction, a 21-year CPD veteran who previously worked in narcotics and internal affairs. The district has recorded double-digit percentage declines in homicides and shooting incidents in recent years following community-policing partnerships and Cook County Sheriff command post deployments, though Austin has historically logged some of the highest violent crime totals among the city's 22 police districts.
Citywide, Chicago recorded more than 200 homicides through the first six months of 2026, a slight uptick from 2025 but still below murder totals seen earlier in the decade, according to Chicago Tribune and Block Club Chicago reporting. It is at least the third case in recent months tying a Bellwood resident to a Chicago shooting; in a January case Hoodline previously covered, another Bellwood man was charged with attempted first-degree murder for a separate West Side shooting.
