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Hanna slaying linked to retaliation
By Rasmieyh Abdelnabi
Daily News staff writer
It was an act of retaliation that brought Maurice Hanna to his death, authorities say.
Hanna, 20, was shot in the head on Nov. 9, 2005 in the 1300 block of Porter Avenue. On Wednesday, Rick Freeman, 21, of the 900 block of Bellevue Place, Beloit, was arrested for first degree intentional homicide with the use a dangerous weapon. Freeman, aka “Baby Boy,” was 19 years old at the time of the alleged shooting.
Wednesday afternoon he appeared in court via video from the jail for his first appearance. He is being held at the Rock County Jail in lieu of a $200,000 bond on the homicide charge. On Tuesday, Freeman will have an adjourned initial appearance and a bail hearing, in which his attorney will possibly argue reducing his bond requirements.
According to the criminal complaint the following allegedly occurred before and after Hanna's homicide:
It all started a couple of months prior to the homicide with members of one group saying Hanna was somewhat involved in a shooting incident. Hanna's accusers beat him with a pistol in the 1000 block of Sixth Street for the incident. According to Hanna's brother, Hanna said he wasn't going to report the beating to police because he was going to take care of it himself.
Shortly after, a shooting happened in an alley in the 1000 block of Sixth Street, supposedly by Hanna. Shots were fired toward an occupied van. The van was used by some to sleep in.
A plan had been devised by a group of people to kill Hanna. An argument ensued between the organizers. To end the argument, Freeman said he would take care of Hanna. After the shooting Freeman was to run west toward Nelson Avenue and get into a truck driven by an associate. But as Freeman ran toward Nelson, he saw the truck going toward Switchtrack Alley. Freeman eventually went back to Porter Avenue and got into a black vehicle that brought him to the area.
It would appear a .44 revolver was used to kill Hanna, borrowed from one of Freeman's associates, also the driver of the vehicle that transported Freeman to and from the crime scene.
After the shooting Freeman went back to Dixmoor, Ill., where he is originally from. According to Beloit Police Capt. Bill Tyler, Freeman had recently moved to Beloit.
In March 2007, Freeman was identified by a witness who saw the shooting occur. She told a detective she was standing at the corner of Hull and Porter avenues with her niece when a black car pulled into the driveway north of her. She saw a black male, believed to be Freeman, walk toward Hanna, who was across the street from her, and watched as the two began to speak. When she looked away for a moment to speak to her niece, she heard a loud bang and looked up to find Freeman pointing a long, silver handgun at Hanna's head.
The witness saw Hanna fall back and Freeman run from the scene toward a black car.
Another witness said she saw Hanna and Freeman speaking and at one point noticed Hanna attempting to dodge a punch. The next thing she saw was Freeman pulling a gun and shooting Hanna.
Freeman was apprehended by police after causing a two-car accident at the intersection of Portland Avenue and Bluff Street around 1:45 p.m. Saturday. Police officers were pursuing a gray 1990 Chevy Lumina, driven by Freeman, when he ran a stop sign and hit a tan 1989 Mercury Cougar. Three people, including Freeman, received non-life threatening injuries. He was being pursued by police because he was seen leaving the scene of a shots fired complaint in the 900 block of Fifth Street. No connection was ever found between him and the shots fired complaint.
For Saturday's incident, Freeman was charged with possession of cocaine as a second offense, fleeing or eluding an officer as a vehicle operator, three counts of second degree recklessly endangering safety and possession of marijuana.
Beloit Police Capt. Bill Tyler said more arrests may come out of the Hanna homicide.
“We know that there were others involved to different degrees, to different levels. We can't preclude other arrests,” he explained.
With Freeman, there is currently enough evidence against him to charge him. For the owner of the gun, James Green, 27, of Beloit, who is currently in jail on a probation violation, there isn't enough evidence to charge him in connection to the Hanna homicide, Tyler said.
Others involved may be in custody or serving time on unrelated charges and investigators are keeping tabs on them, he added.
Hanna was involved in a shooting in January 2004 in the 1300 block of Porter Avenue that left three people injured, including Hanna. A 14-year-old victim was also involved. He was originally charged with shooting the boy, but the charges were dismissed and he was sentenced to 90 days in jail for disorderly conduct.
Daily News staff writer
It was an act of retaliation that brought Maurice Hanna to his death, authorities say.
Hanna, 20, was shot in the head on Nov. 9, 2005 in the 1300 block of Porter Avenue. On Wednesday, Rick Freeman, 21, of the 900 block of Bellevue Place, Beloit, was arrested for first degree intentional homicide with the use a dangerous weapon. Freeman, aka “Baby Boy,” was 19 years old at the time of the alleged shooting.
Wednesday afternoon he appeared in court via video from the jail for his first appearance. He is being held at the Rock County Jail in lieu of a $200,000 bond on the homicide charge. On Tuesday, Freeman will have an adjourned initial appearance and a bail hearing, in which his attorney will possibly argue reducing his bond requirements.
According to the criminal complaint the following allegedly occurred before and after Hanna's homicide:
It all started a couple of months prior to the homicide with members of one group saying Hanna was somewhat involved in a shooting incident. Hanna's accusers beat him with a pistol in the 1000 block of Sixth Street for the incident. According to Hanna's brother, Hanna said he wasn't going to report the beating to police because he was going to take care of it himself.
Shortly after, a shooting happened in an alley in the 1000 block of Sixth Street, supposedly by Hanna. Shots were fired toward an occupied van. The van was used by some to sleep in.
A plan had been devised by a group of people to kill Hanna. An argument ensued between the organizers. To end the argument, Freeman said he would take care of Hanna. After the shooting Freeman was to run west toward Nelson Avenue and get into a truck driven by an associate. But as Freeman ran toward Nelson, he saw the truck going toward Switchtrack Alley. Freeman eventually went back to Porter Avenue and got into a black vehicle that brought him to the area.
It would appear a .44 revolver was used to kill Hanna, borrowed from one of Freeman's associates, also the driver of the vehicle that transported Freeman to and from the crime scene.
After the shooting Freeman went back to Dixmoor, Ill., where he is originally from. According to Beloit Police Capt. Bill Tyler, Freeman had recently moved to Beloit.
In March 2007, Freeman was identified by a witness who saw the shooting occur. She told a detective she was standing at the corner of Hull and Porter avenues with her niece when a black car pulled into the driveway north of her. She saw a black male, believed to be Freeman, walk toward Hanna, who was across the street from her, and watched as the two began to speak. When she looked away for a moment to speak to her niece, she heard a loud bang and looked up to find Freeman pointing a long, silver handgun at Hanna's head.
The witness saw Hanna fall back and Freeman run from the scene toward a black car.
Another witness said she saw Hanna and Freeman speaking and at one point noticed Hanna attempting to dodge a punch. The next thing she saw was Freeman pulling a gun and shooting Hanna.
Freeman was apprehended by police after causing a two-car accident at the intersection of Portland Avenue and Bluff Street around 1:45 p.m. Saturday. Police officers were pursuing a gray 1990 Chevy Lumina, driven by Freeman, when he ran a stop sign and hit a tan 1989 Mercury Cougar. Three people, including Freeman, received non-life threatening injuries. He was being pursued by police because he was seen leaving the scene of a shots fired complaint in the 900 block of Fifth Street. No connection was ever found between him and the shots fired complaint.
For Saturday's incident, Freeman was charged with possession of cocaine as a second offense, fleeing or eluding an officer as a vehicle operator, three counts of second degree recklessly endangering safety and possession of marijuana.
Beloit Police Capt. Bill Tyler said more arrests may come out of the Hanna homicide.
“We know that there were others involved to different degrees, to different levels. We can't preclude other arrests,” he explained.
With Freeman, there is currently enough evidence against him to charge him. For the owner of the gun, James Green, 27, of Beloit, who is currently in jail on a probation violation, there isn't enough evidence to charge him in connection to the Hanna homicide, Tyler said.
Others involved may be in custody or serving time on unrelated charges and investigators are keeping tabs on them, he added.
Hanna was involved in a shooting in January 2004 in the 1300 block of Porter Avenue that left three people injured, including Hanna. A 14-year-old victim was also involved. He was originally charged with shooting the boy, but the charges were dismissed and he was sentenced to 90 days in jail for disorderly conduct.
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