Mistrial Declared in 2009 Murder Case

A hung jury was declared last week in the case of a Bellwood man accused of murder and attempted murder in connection with the shooting death of a Maywood woman on the Eisenhower Expy. in 2009.

The Forest Park Review reports that the jury split 10-2 on whether to convict 32-year-old Darrel Topps of the shooting of 18-year-old Keyana Bates of Maywood in June 2009. Judge Carol Kipperman declared a mistrial.

According to police, two individuals were shot in an auto on the 800 block of Desplaines in Forest Park. Bates was struck four times in the back and later died.The shooting was believed to be gang-related, police said.

As part of the continuing investigation, information was received that identified the shooter, police said. The Forest Park Police with the assistance of WESTAF (West Suburban Major Crimes Task Force), the WEDGE Task Force  (West Suburban Enhanced Drug/Gang Enforcement), along with the Bellwood and Maywood Police Departments worked to locate and arrest the suspect.

Four days after the shooting, Topps and 24-year-old Tristan Agee, of Maywood, were arrested, the Review stated. with the help of members of West Suburban Enhanced Drug and Gang Enforcement (WEDGE). Spotted in the getaway vehicle at a Burger King restaurant, Topps and Agee were followed into Chicago and arrested. Agee was determined to be the driver of the car from which Topps had emerged and fired, but prosecutors declined to charge Agee with first-degree murder, according to the Review.

As of Wednesday morning, Topps remains in the Cook County Jail where he has been since his arrest. There was no bond.