In the early morning hours of February 11, 2026, a violent crime spree unfolded across Chicago, leaving two men dead, including 45-year-old Damon Kellum. The tragic events of that night began when two individuals, later identified as 18-year-old Marquese Hill and 17-year-old Marshawn Sanders, allegedly embarked on a series of carjackings and robberies.
Their path of violence stretched from the Boystown neighborhood on the North Side to the city's South Side.
The first fatality of the night occurred in the Lakeview neighborhood, where Darwin Tirado was shot and killed during a carjacking. Less than an hour later, the perpetrators traveled to the Oakland neighborhood. At approximately 4:42 a.m., Damon Kellum was sitting in his Nissan Altima on South Lake Park Avenue when the vehicle stolen in the first carjacking, a Hyundai Sonata, blocked his path. An individual, believed to be Hill, approached Kellum's driver's side door. In the ensuing moments, Kellum was fatally shot in the eye. The assailants then abandoned the stolen Hyundai and fled in Kellum's Nissan. A passerby later discovered Kellum's body lying on the ground next to the abandoned Hyundai and alerted the authorities. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The brazen crime spree continued after Kellum's murder. The suspects were captured on surveillance video at a gas station on South Wentworth Avenue, where they attempted another carjacking. They then proceeded to the Far South Side, where they successfully carjacked another vehicle. Chicago police detectives launched an intensive investigation, meticulously piecing together surveillance footage from city cameras, businesses, and the CTA to track the suspects' movements throughout the city. This painstaking work allowed them to connect the string of violent crimes and identify the individuals involved.
The investigation led to the arrests of Marquese Hill and Marshawn Sanders. Both have since been charged with two felony counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Damon Kellum and Darwin Tirado. In addition to the murder charges, they face a litany of other felony counts, including aggravated vehicular hijacking and aggravated discharge of a firearm. Hill faces additional charges related to another carjacking. Sanders, although a juvenile, is being tried as an adult. Both men are currently detained pending trial.
