Beverly carjacking, robbery suspects plead not guilty, as community members pack courtroom

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Two men who are accused of carjacking a family in their Beverly driveway had a court hearing Friday morning.

It came one day after the officers who arrested the suspects were recognized.

There was a large showing of Beverly neighbors in a Cook County courtroom in Bridgeview Friday in support of the victims of that brazen armed carjacking last month.

Two men now face multiple felony charges for the incident.

Damarri Conner, 20, and Kenneth Merritt, 26, face charges of felony aggravated vehicular carjacking with a firearm and two felony counts of armed robbery with a firearm, among others.

They both pleaded not guilty, and will remain in custody.

Last month, the victim's surveillance cameras captured the carjacking in the 9300-block of South Pleasant Avenue in the Beverly neighborhood.

The victims were returning home from a volleyball camp after dark at the time of the incident.

The two men allegedly stole an Audi A7, attacked one of the family members and pointed guns at another family member.

Weeks later, the family said the suspects returned and stole their second car.

Alderman Matt O'Shea of the 19th Ward said both suspects have extensive criminal histories.

He added that he's grateful justice is being served.

"We're sick and tired of this, and I wish more communities would stand up and speak out about this. I wish more elected officials would stand up and speak out, but I know the people that I represent, the community I was born in and am honored to serve. We're here today, and we'll continue to be here, for the family and for justice," he said. "We had about 50 neighbors, residents of our community in support of the family, victims. It means a lot. It shows the type of community that we live in. We stand with each other; we support each other during times of crisis. It also sends a message to the court that we will continue to be here at every court hearing. We will be a loud voice. We want to see justice for this family."

Jeff Pettiford is the husband of one of the carjacking victims.

He said he is thankful to Chicago police and investigators for working tirelessly to find and arrest the suspects.

Pettiford is pleading with other communities to work with law enforcement when these crimes occur to bring suspects to justice.

Just on Thursday, nine Chicago police officers that are part of a carjacking task force were praised for their work in apprehending the two suspects in the armed carjacking.

The task force closely tracked spending on the victims' stolen credit cards.

The suspects were arrested on Nov. 14.

Both men will be back in court Jan. 8.

The video in the player above is from an earlier report.

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