Schaumburg hotel shooting witness fined for prostitution

A female witness to a fatal March shooting at a Schaumburg hotel pleaded guilty to prostitution in an unrelated case Thursday in Rolling Meadows and received a $300 fine.

Vicky West, 27, of Pearl River, La, was arrested following the March 16 shooting on a 2009 bond forfeiture warrant stemming from a prostitution arrest last year in Schaumburg.

West was not injured in the shooting, which police say resulted from an attempted robbery gone wrong. During the incident, Rockford resident Mario C. Charles, 29, was killed in an exchange of gunfire that also injured a 26-year-old St. Paul, Minn. man who survived a gunshot wound to the chest.

Elgin resident Kristian Branch was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and attempted armed robbery. She remains in Cook County Jail on a $3 million bail.

West and Branch were acquaintances, say authorities, who believe that Branch, 28, and Charles intended to rob West of money she received from a relative.

Police say Branch, of the 300 block of West Chicago St. in Elgin, showed up at a hotel room occupied by West and three other people in the early morning hours of March 16. Charles, identified by Branch's relatives as her boyfriend, arrived a short time later. Police say Branch and Charles demanded money from the occupants and that Charles brandished a gun. The 26-year-old man also pulled out a gun.

In ensuing gunfire, Charles was hit and fled with Branch before collapsing outside the hotel, authorities say.