The suspect, Develt Bradford, 52, was being held at Area 2. He was charged Wednesday night in connection with the deadly robbery at an ALDI store last week. He was charged with three counts of robbery with a firearm and one count of murder.
He was found in a cell at the Calumet Area headquarters, 727 E. 111th St., and was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:03 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
Police say Bradford and another man robbed an ALDI store at 90th and Halsted last week, but during the robbery, police say Bradford shot and killed a security guard, 54-year-old Reginald Lanier. A 67-year-old woman, a customer, was wounded.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Michael Smith, the second suspect, according to investigators. He is described as being in his 20s and remains at large.
Lanier's family said they would have rather seen Bradford go through the legal process and pay for his alleged crimes. Instead, Bradford, of the 5200-block of South Damen, hanged himself.
Bradford was also a suspect in another ALDI robbery, which occurred in October.
"God is going to have his way, however we end up. And he lived by the sword and that was the way he," said Susan Holtzclaw, Lanier's sister-in-law. "It is not going to bring back Reggie, but I hope they catch the other suspect also because we do not want this to happen to another family."
Police say Lanier struggled with one of the men, who pulled out a gun and shot the guard.
"He didn't have the training. Security guards are not trained enough to understand what's happening in this world today," said Horace Page Jr., Lanier's brother-in-law
The victim's family says he had only worked at the ALDI store for a few months and took the job because he needed the extra money to put his only child, a daughter, through her junior year of college.
"He is going to be missed. He was a good guy," said Holtzclaw.
"Reggie was the type of guy that would give you the shirt off of his back," said Page. "He was a great family guy."
Lanier's family members say a deep faith is what is helping Lanier's wife and their daughter deal with the tragic death.
Last week, police released images of both suspects from surveillance video at the store.
