Jan 5, 2009 5:31 pm US/Central
Charges To Be Filed In Metra Cop's Murder
RIVERDALE, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Jeremy T. Lloyd, 20, was charged Jan. 5 with murder in the shooting death of Metra Officer Thomas Cook in 2006.
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Metra police officer Thomas Cook was shot and killed while on duty. He is the first Metra police officer to be killed.
CBS
A Gary man has been charged with the murder of a Metra police officer two years ago in Harvey.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports prosecutors say Officer Thomas Cook was killed for his gun.
The head of the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force met with Cook's widow and other relatives Monday at the Riverdale Police Department where Cook once worked.
"Today we are pleased the state's attorney's office has approved charges of murder and armed robbery against Jeremy T. Lloyd," Metra Police Chief James Sanford said.
Lloyd is a 20-year-old father of a 4-year-old child. Police say he acted as a lookout in September 2006 when Cook was shot in the head by an unnamed accomplice.
Cook, 43, a former Riverdale police officer and a father of two, was fatally shot in the head Sept. 27, 2006, in his patrol car across the street from the Metra Electric Line station on Sibley Boulevard in Harvey. His service weapon also was stolen from his body, authorities said.
He was the first Metra officer killed in the line of duty.
"He was executed by two individuals, two gunshot wounds to the head," Sanford said. "What began as a regular, routine shift ended in tragedy that night."
On the night of the killing police say Lloyd actually told a an unnamed individual to watch the news that night to see the story about an officer shot dead while on duty. Prosecutors say he later told that same individual about his involvement in the crime.
As for the motive, prosecutors alleged that Lloyd and his accomplice executed Cook because they wanted his gun in order to replace a weapon they'd lost in a recent shootout.
Cook's brother, a Cook County Sheriff's deputy said he wasn't that surprised by the motive saying, "I've seen the evil man can do to fellow man."
Cook's widow, Pamela, shortly after her husband was killed spoke about how her young son was trying to understand why Cook wouldn't be coming home.
"He says that God needed a new police officer up in heaven," she said.
The shooting in the crime-plagued suburb was investigated by the task force after the then-police chief requested their help. Investigators had been focusing on a suspect in custody awaiting charges on another case, though sources say he is not the one being charged.
Lloyd has been in custody since shortly after Cook's murder, held on another attempted murder charge.
Police say they know who the alleged triggerman in the case is, but he is not in custody. The investigation is still active.
The gunman sought in the case could face the death penalty. Lloyd could face mandatory life in prison without possibility of parole.
The STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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