A Cook County judge on Tuesday sentenced a 29-year-old man to 50 years in prison for murdering a romantic rival while on electronic monitoring for a gun case and bail for allegedly beating a Chicago officer.
On May 26, 2023, a jury convicted Ed Rush of murder in the November 2019 shooting death of Rayveon Hutchins on the 1200 block of South Throop.
Prosecutors presented evidence that showed the gunman shot Hutchins multiple times in the head, back, and side while he was standing outside his automobile. A security officer from the CHA housing building discovered Hutchins in the parking lot and phoned 911.
Surveillance footage showed the gunman leaving a nearby home, murdering someone, and then returning to the same house. Investigators determined Rush lived at the property, and electronic monitoring records showed he left for about 90 seconds around the time of the murder, according to prosecutors.
Three days after the shooting, authorities executed a search order at the home, seizing the murder weapon as well as a jacket that a witness saw Rush wearing shortly after the crime. The garment had gunshot residue, according to prosecutors. A woman testified that the handgun was hers and was kept at Rush’s apartment because she had children of her own.
Rush’s ex-girlfriend testified that she got a protective order against him after he discovered she was seeing Hutchins, according to a court document.
Judge Lawrence Flood oversaw the trial and resigned a few months after the jury’s verdict. Judge Nicholas Kantas took over, overseeing post-trial motions for over two years before punishing Rush on Tuesday.
Rush is required by state law to serve the entire sentence. He has already received nearly six years of credit for being in jail before and after the trial.