Bloomington man arrested for alleged double homicide

Hammet Brown was taken into custody on Tuesday in Chicago. (Bloomington Police)

By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – A Bloomington man is charged with killing two people on the city’s east side.

The McLean County State’s Attorney’s Office said the U.S. Marshal arrested Hammet Deondre Brown, 26, Tuesday in Chicago.

Brown’s address is listed in court records as 1219 Orchard Road. It was in the 1200 block where Taneshia Brown, 20, and Steven Alexander, 18, were fatally shot June 10.

A warrant charges the alleged shooter with six counts of first degree murder, crimes that will result in a life in prison sentence if he’s convicted.

Brown is also charged with two counts of attempted murder for allegedly trying to kill Tyree Jones and Kenleia Sims, although authorities aren’t saying whether they were seriously hurt in the shooting.

Brown is being held on $3 million bond. Police have yet to make arrests in a triple murder that happened June 18 on Riley Drive in Bloomington.

More information on this story will be provided when it becomes available.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…