CROWN POINT — Trial proceedings began Monday with jury selection for a Chicago man accused of armed robbery who was previously found guilty of murder but had his conviction overturned.
Gerald Reed, 59, was sentenced to life in prison in connection with two murders in 1994. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker commuted his sentence and released him from custody in 2021, and the Illinois Supreme Court overturned his conviction later that year.
Reed’s conviction was overturned due to allegations that he was beaten by Chicago detectives during questioning, according to reporting from The Chicago Tribune.
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The Tribune reported that Cook County prosecutors said Reed went on a crime spree that spanned Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois after he was released from prison.
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Reed is on trial for allegedly robbing one woman and attempting to rob another at the 1100 Fifth Ave., Hammond, Walmart on Sept. 29, according to charging documents.
Reed was charged with attempted armed robbery, armed robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and resisting law enforcement, according to court records.
Reed approached a woman with a gun in his hand and demanded her car keys, and when she told him no, he said, “Do you want me to shoot you here?” according to a probable cause affidavit.
The woman called for help and Reed ran away, records stated, but he then approached another woman and demanded her car keys and wallet.
Charging documents show that Reed then fled the Walmart but officers found him at a Luke’s gas station off Roby Drive.
Police later found a black Taurus 9 mm pistol underneath a red SUV at the gas station, according to court records. The serial number of the handgun matched a gun that was reported stolen to Chicago police by Reed’s roommate in his halfway house, the records said.
Reed was also charged in connection with a Wisconsin robbery at Kenosha Water Utility and an Illinois robbery in Chicago suburb Hoffman Estates, according to the Chicago Tribune and Kenosha News.
