3 men planned the murder of Chicago anti-violence leader Andre Thomas, prosecutors say. 2 are still on the loose. – CWB Chicago

Prosecutors on Tuesday charged a 54-year-old man with murdering prominent Chicago anti-violence leader Andre Thomas in a planned shooting outside a Chicago Heights strip mall on Halloween night, saying two other men who allegedly participated have not been charged.

Alex Morris faces one count of first-degree murder in the death of Thomas, 57, who founded and led the violence-prevention organization Integrity & Fidelity. Judge Luciano Panici ordered Morris detained during a hearing at the Markham courthouse.

Prosecutors did not offer a motive for the killing but said it was planned in advance. Surveillance video showed Morris and one alleged accomplice being dropped off near 15th Place and Wilson Avenue around 9 p.m. on October 31, according to a detention filing. The location is about a block from the strip mall parking lot where Thomas was killed.

Thomas, a Matteson resident, pulled into the parking lot on 14th Street about 10 minutes later and remained inside his vehicle for another 10 minutes, prosecutors said. Morris and the accomplice then walked through the parking lot and separated. Morris approached the driver’s side of Thomas’ vehicle, and Thomas stepped out to have a brief conversation. During that encounter, Morris pulled out a gun and fired several shots at close range, striking Thomas multiple times, according to prosecutors. At least one bullet struck Thomas in the face.

Video allegedly showed Morris and the first accomplice running from the parking lot together. At 9:27 p.m., they entered the same vehicle that had dropped them off before the shooting, according to the detention filing. License plate readers tracked the vehicle’s movements, allowing investigators to determine that it was registered to the mother of the second alleged accomplice. That man knew Thomas “from work,” prosecutors said. The filing did not say whether the work involved violence prevention or another field.

Investigators also used license plate-reader data and other surveillance footage to track Morris and the first accomplice as they traveled through several suburbs and boarded a Pace bus, according to prosecutors. A ShotSpotter alert detected six gunshots at 9:24 p.m. Detectives later recovered six 9-millimeter cartridge casings from the scene.

Chicago police officers stopped Morris in an unrelated matter on November 5, prosecutors said. CPD’s body-worn camera footage showed him wearing the same distinctive clothing worn by Thomas’ killer, prosecutors alleged. When investigators arrested Morris the next day in connection with the murder, he was still wearing the same clothing, except for different shoes, according to the detention filing.

Morris admitted that he was with the first accomplice on the night of the murder but did not admit to shooting Thomas, prosecutors said. He allegedly told investigators that he feared the second accomplice and said that man picked them up on the night of the shooting so Morris could serve as a lookout.