Man killed girlfriend after she removed AirTag he'd secretly placed in her car, prosecutors say
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 21-year-old man shot and killed his girlfriend at the Mariano's grocery store where she worked in Evergreen Park after confronting her for removing an Apple AirTag tracking device he'd placed in her car without her knowledge, prosecutors said.
A judge ordered that he be held in jail without bail.
Armoni Henry, of the Ashburn neighborhood in Chicago, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Jailene Flowers.
Prosecutors said Henry and Flores were dating after they had met in school. They also worked together at a nursing home in Oak Lawn earlier this year.
This past April, Flores filed for an order of protection against Henry, accusing him of previous threats against her and her family while they were dating. That order was granted but was never served on Henry, and later expired.
A spokesman for the Cook County Sheriff's office said that order of protection was issued on April 19, and deputies tried to serve Henry on April 20.
"A resident in the home advised that Henry did not live there and he did not know him. The Sheriff's Office called Ms. Flores and left a message seeking to clarify the address, but did not receive a call back. On May 10th Ms. Flores was present in court and the order was extended to May 31st. A Sheriff's Deputy attempted to serve Henry on May 13th and was told by the resident that he did not live there."
"Following each attempt, the Sheriff's Office notified the court that service was attempted. Neither Henry nor Ms. Flores could be contacted. On May 31st Ms. Flores was not present in court for the status hearing and therefore the order was not extended and expired."
On Monday, according to prosecutors, Flores found an AirTag inside her car. Her brother scanned it and learned the last four digits of the tracking device's phone number were the same last four digits of Henry's phone number.
On Wednesday, Henry followed her to work and confronted her about removing the device from her car, threatening to hurt her father and brother if she stopped talking to him, prosecutors said.
On Thursday, a new order of protection was filed against Henry, and the same day when Flores went to work, she received 124 text messages from him threatening her over removing the AirTag from her car.
Around 9 a.m., Henry arrived at the Mariano's, where Flores worked, and confronted her. Prosecutors said she took him to a back room for employees only, and moments later, the store manager heard multiple gunshots and saw Henry run away.
The manager chased Henry, who got into his car and drove away. At the time, another coworker in the back room witnessed the shooting, and both that employee and the manager identified Henry as Flores' killer.
Chicago police arrested Henry shortly after 10 a.m., after license plate readers helped authorities track his Ford Focus after he fled the Mariano's. Prosecutors said Henry had a gun on him at the time, and it was matched to shell casings found at the crime scene.
Prosecutors said Henry has a history of domestic violence against Flores, as well as against his ex-girlfriend. One of the two reported incidents of domestic violence resulted in a battery conviction in Peoria County. Prosecutors said Henry was on conditional discharge from that conviction at the time of the shooting, and had already had a violation of that conditional discharge filed against him on Monday.
