Taped Confessions In Beating By Mob

Prosecutors Use Details To Argue Against Bail For 7 Suspects

(CBS)  One man allegedly kicked the two men who were fatally beaten by a mob "until he was out of breath" while another smashed the skull of one of the victims with a concrete block.

Those were some of the details presented by a prosecutor Sunday at a bond hearing for four suspects in the beating deaths of two men who were killed after a van they were in struck three young women sitting on a porch last Tuesday on the city's South Side.

Like two other suspects on Saturday, the four men were ordered held without bond by Cook County Circuit Judge Nicholas Ford. The bond hearing of a seventh suspect was continued until Monday. All seven men are charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of felony mob action and two counts of felony murder based on mob action.

During the brief hearing, Assistant State's Attorney Jim Lynch outlined what the men are suspected of doing in the last moments of the lives of 62-year-old Jack Moore and 49-year-old Anthony Stuckey.

Taken with what police and prosecutors already have said, authorities allege the events unfolded this way:

For a reason police say they still have not determined, the van driven by Moore veered off the street, hurtled a curb and struck three young women sitting on a stoop of a home in the Oakland neighborhood.

With the injured on the ground, several men rushed the van. In front of perhaps dozens of witnesses, the seven men allegedly pummeled the two men with their hands, feet and as well as striking them with bricks and chunks of concrete.

On Saturday, Assistant State's Attorney Megan Goldish alleged that Robert Tucker, 20, broke the driver-side window with his hands, punched Moore as many as five times, grabbed the keys to the van and pulled him to the ground, where he and others began to stomp on him.

She said Antonio Fort, 16, helped pull Stuckey out of the van and kicked him and beat him with a slab of concrete.

At Sunday's hearing, Assistant State's Attorney Jim Lynch said Henry Lawrence, 47, admitted in a videotaped confession that he punched Stuckey and kicked him in the back. He also said he grabbed one of the men's wallets, but threw it back before leaving the scene.

Meanwhile, his brother, Roosevelt Lawrence, 43, stomped and kicked both victims "until he was out of breath," said Lynch, who added Lawrence admitted he "stomped and kicked" the victims during a videotaped confession.

Ricky Lawson, 43, "smashed his (Stuckey's) head with a large concrete block," said Lynch. Lawson gave a videotaped confession and was identified by three witnesses, two of whom told saw him participate in the attack and one saying he was at the scene, Lynch said.

Lynch said Lamont Motes, 20, was identified by one witness as one of the participants in the beatings as well as implicated by some of the other defendants. Motes, said Lynch, was "kicking and jumping up and down on the heads of the victims."

Lynch did not present evidence regarding the seventh suspect, James Ousley, 31, whose bond hearing was continued until Monday.

Police have said all seven men have criminal records and are gang members. While Lynch did not discuss any gang activity, he said three of the four men in court Sunday have felony drug convictions. Roosevelt Lawrence has no criminal record, Lynch said.

Police say the investigation is continuing to determine if anyone else took part in the attack.

Of the three injured women, one remains hospitalized. A spokeswoman at Mount Sinai Hospital said Shani Lawrence, 26, remained in critical condition Sunday.