Man charged in Roseland quadruple murder in December

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A 29-year-old man was charged in a quadruple murder in the city's Roseland neighborhood on Dec. 17.

Lionel Parks, of the Far South Side, was charged with four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. On Wednesday, a Cook County judge ordered him held without bond.

A Chicago family grieving three relatives now begins the process of witnessing the criminal justice system up close.

"Today was the first step and now we can start the process of healing," said relative Gershon Jackson.

The victims were identified as Elijah Jackson, 36; his pregnant sister Shacora Jackson, 41; and Shacora's 19-year-old daughter Nateyah Yafah Hines. Also killed was Scott Travis Thompson, 45, of Romeoville.

Prosecutors told a judge that Parks was at the family's Roseland home in the 100-block of West 105th Street three times on Dec. 17. Once to buy pot and the last time he returned with an accomplice to rob the family.

"Elijah Jackson pleaded with Lionel Parks to take what he wanted but to leave his family alone both offenders continually demanded drugs and guns," said Ed Murillo, a Cook County assistant state's attorney.

Parks is a felon and was on parole at the time of the murders and on home monitoring when he and an accomplice allegedly executed four people.

"Both offenders became agitated after discovering a female victim was in a rear bedroom with her cellphone. Lionel Parks and the unknown co-offender then started executing the victims," Murillo said.

Prosecutors say home monitoring, surveillance video and cellphone records show Parks leaving his home and being near the family's home at the time of the murders.

"To hear you family suffering like that it's very uncomfortable," Jackson said.

There were two survivors of the shooting. One escaped by playing dead and was able to later identify Parks. The other is one of Shacora's teenage daughters, who remains on life support, unable to respond to touch or sound.