( WGNTV )
A 25-year-old man is facing first-degree murder charges after officials say he had a sexual encounter with a 17-year-old girl inside her Burnside home before shooting and killing her uncle during a confrontation.
Investigators say Kenneth Malone had been texting the teen since late October, and Thursday around 9 p.m. she let him into the home on the 500 block of east 89th Place where she lives with her aunt and uncle, her legal guardians.
After allegedly having a sexual encounter with the teen, officials say Malone went upstairs to the uncle's bedroom while wearing a mask and armed with a handgun. Once he was upstairs, prosecutors said the teen's uncle, 66-year-old James Lewis, confronted Malone with a golf club.
"The victim pursued [the] defendant with a golf club, as the victim entered the nieces bedroom, the defendant fired his gun at him four times, striking the victim in the head, shoulders and back," Assistant State's Attorney Lorin Jenkins said.
The girl had initially told police Malone climbed through her window, tied her up and sexually assaulted her before Lewis heard her screaming and came to defend her. She later admitted the sexual encounter was consensual.
Police say Malone fled the home after the shooting, dropping a jewelry box and ski mask that were recovered from the scene. Lewis, a retired Amtrak mechanic, was initially treated at Trinity Hospital, and later pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Malone was apprehended and arrested within 10 minutes of the incident, and investigators said he tested positive for gunshot residue on his hand. He is not currently facing any sexual assault charges.
Malone was in bond court Sunday afternoon, and faces one count of first-degree murder.
The state's attorneys office says Lewis had security cameras inside his home in the living room and kitchen, and that police are recovering that footage as part of the investigation. There are currently no charges against his niece.