Two men have been charged with killing a security guard last year at a mall in Calumet City during a brazen daytime robbery.
Maxx Walker and Frank Adkins, both 38 and of Chicago, each face a first-degree murder charge and were ordered detained during their initial court appearances on Tuesday at the Markham Courthouse.
Calumet City police announced the charges on Friday, just over a year after guard Norman Thomas was gunned down just after noon on Nov. 16, 2022, at Flawless Diamonds in the River Oaks Center.
In an affidavit filed by police, investigators said Walker was initially taken into custody the same day as the shooting and made admissions then to his and Adkins’ roles as getaway drivers in the robbery.
A spokesman for police declined to say Friday why it took nearly a year to bring charges.
Three other suspects who allegedly stormed the mall with handguns and an assault-style weapon, shooting Thomas when he raised his gun to confront them, are still being sought by authorities, according to court records. The police spokesman declined to provide additional information.
After shooting Thomas, the gunman smashed several display cases and made off with an undisclosed amount of merchandise, police said.
Adkins drove the gunman to the mall in a stolen car, waited outside while the robbery took place and then drove the three gunman away, police said. Walker, who was waiting in the area in a white Maserati, then allegedly picked up the three gunman and Adkins near where the Infiniti was later found abandoned.
Thomas, 57, was rushed to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died from multiple gunshot wounds. Police said he was a father, grandfather and Army veteran who had served overseas in Operation Desert Storm.
The Maserati driven by Walker was found to be registered to the mother of his child, who was called on the day of the murder by a Cook County sheriff’s official who informed her that the license plate was being broadcast over police scanners, police said
The woman allegedly told the sheriff’s official that she was at work and Walker had her car. Walker called her later that day and claimed the license plates for her car had been stolen, according to police.
When she confronted him at her home when he returned the car, he told her that “he picked up some people who were in a jam a few blocks from the mall,” but denied knowing more, police said. They were both taken into custody a short time later.
In custody, Walker allegedly made admissions, including identifying Adkins and the others involved in the heist.
Police said extensive security footage showed Walker, Adkins and three other individuals moving together at several locations that day.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 708-868-2500.
