Samuel Garrett, a 22-year-old male from Chicago, IL, was tragically killed on April 12, 2021. Garrett was driving west on the offramp from Interstate Highway 290 at Damen Avenue with four friends in his vehicle when the incident occurred. Responding troopers located an empty vehicle crashed in a lane of traffic on the Eisenhower at Ashland Avenue, and Garrett’s vehicle crashed on the offramp. Garrett was the only one in his vehicle who suffered critical injuries.
The other four occupants, three men, ages 21, 22, and 25, and a 25-year-old woman, all from Chicago, were treated at an area hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening. Two of them suffered injuries directly from the shooting. Garrett was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 12:50 a.m. His cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was homicide.
The shooting investigation was assigned to the violent crimes unit within the state police’s criminal investigations division. Agents with that unit served multiple residential search warrants and arrested Antwan Carter, a 33-year-old male from Chicago. On Friday, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office approved charges against Carter in connection with the April shooting. He faces one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder. Carter appeared before a judge for a bond court hearing and was ordered held on $1 million bail, of which he would have to pay 10% to be released from Cook County Jail, where he is being held.
The arrest and subsequent charges may provide a spark of hope for the families of the more than 165 people who have been shot on Cook County expressways so far this year. The number of shootings on state highways, which are under the jurisdiction of state police, have exploded exponentially in recent years and the cases can be notoriously difficult to solve for myriad reasons. Some expressways, such as the Eisenhower and the Dan Ryan, run through historically high-crime areas; there is relative ease with which to put distance between the shooter and the crime scene through on- and offramps; and it can be incredibly difficult locating witnesses without doors to knock on.
