A man accused of fatally shooting a 19-year-old girl last year in the Back of the Yards neighborhood was ordered held until trial.
Elijah Stiffened, 20, faces one felony count of first-degree murder and two felony counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shooting that killed Cyra Magby, Chicago police said. He was ordered held Wednesday by Cook County Circuit Court judge Susana Ortiz.
About 11 p.m. on June 11, 2024, Magby was driving with her boyfriend and another friend when they pulled into a Shell gas station near Garfield Boulevard and Halsted Street. As they pulled into the lot, Magby and her boyfriend saw a person they recognized from high school get into a Nissan Rogue being driven by Stiffened.
Magby and her boyfriend had been friendly with Stiffened until a mutual friend was killed, at which point they no longer stayed in contact, prosecutors said.
Magby’s boyfriend saw the person point them out to Stiffened and because of that, Magby decided to drive away, prosecutors said.
But police say Stiffened followed Magby to the 800 block of West Garfield Boulevard, pulling up along the passenger side of her car.
Magby’s boyfriend saw Stiffened holding something in his hand, and seconds later he saw a flash and heard a gunshot.
Magby was struck by a bullet that went through the rear right passenger window, traveled through the front passenger head rest and struck her in the upper back, prosecutors said. After she was shot, Magby tried to speed away but swerved and drove head-on into a Volkswagen Jetta with two people inside. The occupants in the Jetta suffered minor injuries. Magby’s boyfriend was not hurt.
Magby was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Two days after the shooting, officers found the Nissan — which had been reported stolen 10 days before — abandoned at 5559 S. Michigan Ave. A search warrant was executed on the vehicle and a shell casing was found on the front driver’s-side floor board, prosecutors said.
The Nissan tested positive for gunshot residue and DNA inside the SUV was linked to Stiffened, prosecutors said.
A search warrant on Stiffened’s cellphone placed the phone in the area of the shooting at the time of the shooting and in the area where the Nissan was abandoned, prosecutors said.
Stiffened is expected to appear in court March 25.