September Shooting Was Revenge, Prosecutors Say

Christopher Hughes held without bail in connection with fatal shooting in September

Before Christopher Hughes allegedly killed a teenager, he apparently made it clear he was getting revenge, prosecutors said.

"This is for Hottie," Hughes, 24, said as he pointed a handgun at Devon Varner, according to Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Melissa Howlett.

Varner, who was sitting in car with friends at the corner of 61st and King Drive, crawled out of the car window and told his friends to drive off.

The 18-year-old tried to run away from Hughes and another gunman, but couldn’t, Howlett said.

The armed men chased him down and Hughes shot him in the back on Sept. 13, Howlett said.

He fell to the ground and later died at Stroger Hospital

The second gunman, who has not yet been charged, and Hughes fled, Howlett said. A witness recently picked Hughes out of a lineup and he was charged, authorities said.

Surveillance footage from the convenience store, where Varner had purchased a Pepsi minutes before he was slain, caught Hughes pointing the gun at the teenager as he sat the car, Howlett said.

It also recorded the gunmen running south on King Drive following the fatal shooting, Howlett said.

“Who’s Hottie? A rival gang member?” Judge Peggy Chiampas asked Howlett Friday during a bond hearing.

Howlett said she didn’t know who "Hottie" was.

Hughes, on parole for a 2009 weapons conviction, was ordered held without bail. He lives in the 6200 block of South Vernon.

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