Relatives of two men shot dead in a South Side fast food restaurant left a courtroom Tuesday still without answers on why the alleged gunman suddenly opened fire in the near-empty dining room.
At a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, Medhi Medellel, 42, was arraigned on two counts of first-degree murder for the Oct. 8 shooting of David Swick, 56, and Paul Williams, 57, a shooting prosecutors have described as an “execution.”
Prosecutors say Medellel first shot Williams at the JJ Fish & Chicken in the 7800 block of South Western Avenue on Oct. 8, then shot Swick who was eating at a nearby table.
The shooting was captured on video inside the restaurant, prosecutors said at a detention hearing earlier this month. They have offered no motive for the attack.
Williams lived on and off with relatives and made a modest living selling items like socks or T-shirts that he carried to various businesses on the South Side, according to Williams’s younger brother Clifton Williams.
Paul Williams was also an amateur entertainer who did a good Micheal Jackson impression, he said.
“My brother was a good guy, he didn’t deserve this death, and the other gentleman didn’t deserve this death,” Clifton Williams said.
Surveillance video shows Paul Williams opening a suitcase and laying out items for sale inside the restaurant before Medellel entered the dining room, his brother said.
The video shows Paul Williams raising his arms and stepping back as Medellel held a gun. As Williams backed away, Medellel fired a single shot at his head.
Swick stood up and moved away from Medellel, who turned the gun on Swick. Williams and Swick both died before emergency workers arrived at the restaurant.
Medellel was an employee of the restaurant and had quarreled with the men before going back to the kitchen, locking a rear exit to the building and then returning to the dining area to shoot Williams and Swick, prosecutors said.
Swick had become unhoused years ago because he didn’t want to deal with the hassles of everyday life, said his ex-wife Lisa Smalarz, who attended Tuesday’s arraignment with her daughters and an attorney.
Still, he spoke almost daily to his ex-wife and three daughters, she said.
“He lived the way he wanted to live, but he still loved his family,” Smalarz said. “I’m glad (Medellel) is in custody and he needs to remain in custody.”
Medellel was arrested about 30 minutes after the shooting a few blocks from the restaurant and led police to a trash bin where he had tossed the murder weapon, according to prosecutors.
A cook at the restaurant identified Medellel as the shooter on the video and said Medellel had been handling a gun in the kitchen before the shooting.
The families have seen only snippets of the video that have been on social media and news reports, according to attorney Robert Groszek, who said he is seeking video from the owners of the J&J location.
South Side community activist Carolyn Ruff said she often saw Williams selling socks from his case on 87th Street, and said he was friendly with many in the South Side neighborhood.
Ruff described the killing as a “hate crime” targeting unhoused residents and said community members protested when the restaurant re-opened.
“JJ is all over Chicago,” Ruff said. “In honor of Paul and David, we want that one closed for good.”