Update: DeKalb man charged with attempted murder after recent Suburban Apartments shooting

DeKALB - A DeKalb man was charged with attempted murder and arrested Sunday following a recent shooting inside a garage in the Suburban Apartments residential complex on Twombly Road, said DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan.

Stanley N. Steward, 33, of the 1000 block of West Hillcrest Drive in DeKalb, is charged with attempted murder, a Class X felony. If convicted, Steward could face up to 30 years in jail and fines up to $25,000. Due to the charges involving allegations of a deadly weapon used, Steward could also face an additional 20-year add on to his sentence. He was arrested around 10 a.m. Sunday by sheriff’s deputies on a warrant following last week’s shooting, Sullivan said.

According to DeKalb County court records, the warrant -- filed with the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office Aug. 25 -- shows Steward is also facing charges of aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a street gang member.

During his virtual bond hearing Monday from the DeKalb County Jail, Steward told DeKalb County Circuit Court Judge Phillip Montgomery that he was employed by Suburban Apartments, and that he was “temporarily off for two months considering I had third degree burns to my foot, so I just started back up.”

Montgomery set Steward’s bond at $250,000 despite a pretrial service request that he be released on a recognizance bond. Steward would have to post $25,000 to get out of jail.

“Pretrial services is recommending release, I would disagree,” Montgomery said, citing also Steward’s past criminal history which he said includes four Illinois Department of Corrections stints and a 2014 felony conviction out of Cook County. “Bond to stand.”

DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputies were called to Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital around 9:30 p.m. last Monday, Aug. 23, Sullivan said, for a gunshot victim. It was then that investigators learned the shooting had occurred earlier.

“Apparently there was at some point that evening a shooting which took place at 1400 Twombly Road inside one of the garages,” Sullivan said. “A male individual was struck in the leg and that person was brought to the hospital by his friend. We weren’t called to the scene.”

Sullivan said the sheriff’s department regularly patrols around the area, but did not respond to reports of any gunfire in the area that evening.

“We weren’t even called to the scene,” Sullivan said. “So we wouldn’t have known if the hospital hadn’t have called us. But obviously we’re continuing with our patrols.”

Deputies believe there was just one shooter involved, though they remain unclear regarding a motive yet, Sullivan said, adding that the gunshot victim did not have a gun.

The man did not suffer any life-threatening injuries, and was treated and released from the hospital that same night, Sullivan said.

The weapon used in the shooting was a handgun, Sullivan said, though no weapon was found at the scene when deputies returned that night to begin investigating.

“After we went to the hospital, we followed up with the victim, which led [investigators] to the suspect who they followed up with throughout the rest of the week, working their own different leads,” Sullivan said.

According to court records, the friend of the gunshot victim who spoke to sheriff’s deputies at the hospital declined to give officers any identification of the alleged shooter, later identified as Steward, beyond a nickname “Pride.” The victim’s friend told police the victim and ‘Pride’ had gotten into a verbal argument before he heard what he knew to be a firearm and attempted to flee to a nearby vehicle.

The victim’s friend told police that a single shot rang out and the victim then entered the passenger door of the vehicle they’d fled to and said that he’d been shot. They then drove to the hospital, court records state.

The victim’s friend then later showed police a Facebook profile of ‘Pride,’ later identified as Steward, police records state. Deputies then returned to the hospital to speak with the victim, who told officer he’d “had an ongoing issue” with Steward, who he also called ‘Pride’ and told officers he did not want to cooperate with further identifying the shooter and that he would lie, records state.

Video obtained at Suburban Apartments also shows the shooting, according to sheriff’s deputies in court records, which seems to have occurred inside a series of garages west of building 20 on the complex’s southeast side. The video shows Steward leaving the area in a large conversion style van, records state.

Deputies obtained a warrant for Steward’s arrest, went to his place of residence and arrested him shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday. He was booked into the DeKalb County Jail Sunday morning. Following Monday’s bond call, Steward is expected to appear before a DeKalb County judge again Sept. 20 at 2:30 p.m. for a status hearing.