Suspect ordered held in death of Chicago firefighter Michael Altman

A man was detained until trial Monday on charges in the death of a Chicago firefighter who died fighting a blaze in the city's Rogers Park neighborhood.

Cook County Criminal Court Judge Luciano Panici ordered Sheaves Slate, 27, detained on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated arson, and residential arson. Chicago Fire Department leaders and firefighters packed the courtroom for the hearing.

Slate spent most of his time in court with his eyes closed or head down on the table. He waved at prosecutors on his way out of the courtroom. He originally was supposed to appear in court Saturday — but he did not, as he was still in the hospital.

Slate was arrested in the 800 block of West Irving Park Road this past Wednesday, police said.

Altman died from injuries he suffered when he fell from the first floor to a basement while battling a blaze in a four-story apartment building at 1757 W. North Shore Ave. on Monday morning.

Slate had a history of squatting in the building, threatening residents, and acting in an erratic fashion, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's office.

In a proffer, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Mike Pekara said Slate had lived with a friend in the North Shore Avenue building about nine months earlier, but no longer lived there by the time of the fire. He did come back to the building in the months leading up to the fire despite no longer living there, Pekara said.

On Monday, March 2, two weeks before the fire, the person living in the basement apartment in the building complained to the property manager that Slate was trespassing in the maintenance and boiler area, Pekara said. The property manager confronted Slate, and she told him he was trespassing and had to leave, Pekara said.

On Sunday, March 15, the day before the fire, several people saw Slate in the laundry area. He also was recorded on surveillance video. At 10:30 p.m. that night, he knocked on the door of the third-floor apartment where he used to live and demanded to speak to his old roommate, Pekara said.

Slate's old roommate was now living with two other people, who told Slate he could not talk to his old roommate, Pekara said. This made Slate angry, and he threatened his old roommate's new roommates and told them they were "going to pay," Pekara said. One of the new roommates called 911 because Slate was yelling so loudly, but then canceled the call, believing Slate had left, Pekara said.

But Slate was still there, Pekara said. Ring camera video showed him walking back up the stairs at 11:01 p.m., and then down the stairs at 12:25 a.m. He was also seen lying on the floor sleeping in front of his old apartment, Pekara said.

When one of the new roommates left for work at 4 a.m. Monday, March 16, he made Slate leave the building, Pekara said. But Slate came back again, entering a broken basement window and going to the maintenance and boiler room where he had been staying illegally, Pekara said.

There, Slate used a handheld lighter to light a match in the room on fire, Pekara said. The mattress was leaning on a wall, and Slate lit its upper corner on fire and watched it go up in flames, Pekara said.

When Slate realized he couldn't stop the fire, he placed a door in front of the room to try to hide it, and then left — without calling 911 or telling any residents, Pekara said. As seen on surveillance video, Slate walked east down the alley between North Shore and Wallen avenues and then to a bus stop on Clark Street, where he later got on a bus, Pekara said.

Residents soon noticed smoke in the hallway and called 911, Pekara said. Altman, who was assigned to Chicago Fire Department Truck 47, was among the firefighters who responded to the scene.

Firefighters had to remove the door that Altman had placed in front of the boiler and maintenance room to try to hide the fire, and when they did, the ceiling of the room — which was also the floor of the first story above — collapsed, Pekara said. Altman was standing on the first floor of the building wearing full protective gear, but when the floor collapsed, he fell right into the fire and he was engulfed in flames, Pekara said.

Prosecutors say 90% of Altman's body was burned. He died the next day.

Meanwhile, at 11:36 a.m. that morning, Slate got off the bus and got on the Chicago Transit Authority Red Line at the Howard terminal, prosecutors said. He headed south on the Red Line and made it downtown to the Harold Washington Library, where he dyed his hair from orange to brown and changed his clothes, Pekara said.

The next day, Slate checked himself into a hospital for suicidal thoughts, Pekara said. It was at the hospital where he was arrested.

After being arrested, Slate admitted to living in tents that all burned down because of what he claimed were accidental actions, Pekara said. One tent burned down in August or September of last year in Osterman Beach along the lake in Edgewater, the other in December 2025 near Buena Park, Pekara said.

Slate has been arrested three times since July.

"It had to get to the point where one of our heroes was murdered, for us to take action; for the state or for the city, in this case, the county, to take action," Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza said last week.

Prosecutors said Slate was arrested on July 24 for possession of methamphetamine and retail theft, and he missed two court dates before being sentenced to 30 days in jail. On Sept. 24, he was arrested for a retail theft committed while a warrant was out for the July offense. On Jan. 10, he was arrested for meth possession and retail theft again, in violation of his court supervision issued for the September offense, Pekara said.

Slate failed to appear in court yet again in the January offense, and a warrant was out for his arrest at the time of the arson, Pekara said.

"He doesn't sound like a very decent person, basically," said Patrick Cleary, president of Chicago Fire Fighters Local Union 2. "That's all I am going to say about him."

Ald James Gardiner (45th), a former firefighter, was among the many who attended the hearing as a show of support for Altman's family.

"Justice is going to be served," Gardiner said. "As heartbreaking as these incidents are, it's equally reassuring to see the camaraderie amongst first responders."  

Meantime, Sheaves also has a hearing on Tuesday in the retail theft case.

Firefighter Altman left behind a pregnant wife and young child.

Altman's visitation and funeral will be on Thursday and Friday of this week at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel at 7740 S. Western Ave.

Slate is due back in court on the murder charges on April 8.