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Chicago man set for retrial in 2006 Rolling Meadows murder held on $3.5 million bail

A Chicago man, whose conviction for the 2006 slaying of a fledgling Rolling Meadows rap producer was overturned last year, was ordered held on $3.5 million bail Friday.

Patrick Taylor, 48, returned to Rolling Meadows courtroom 110, where in November 2011 he received a life sentence for the murder of Marquis Lovings, a 1996 Barrington High School graduate shot to death during a home invasion and robbery.

The appellate court last year vacated Taylor's conviction and ordered a retrial because his attorneys were not allowed to introduce expert testimony on the reliability of eyewitness identification.

The bail Cook County Judge Marc Martin set for Taylor is $1.5 million more than his previous bond amount.

Prosecutors asked he be held without bail, citing convictions dating back to 1986 for aggravated battery and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. They also pointed to threats they say Taylor made against officers from Cook County jail and the Illinois Department of Corrections over the years.

Cook County assistant public defender Kristina Yi, who served as co-counsel during Taylor's 2011 murder trial, pointed out that any statements Taylor may have made were merely words and that IDOC has no record of him committing any infractions or violent behavior during his incarceration.

No physical evidence connects Taylor to the murder, which occurred about 9 p.m. Aug. 19, 2006, when prosecutors say Taylor and an unidentified man entered Lovings' condo brandishing guns and demanding Lovings and several of his friends turn over money and jewelry.

During the first trial, a witness testified Taylor ordered Lovings to open a safe belonging to Lovings' roommate. When he failed to do so, Taylor shot him, the witness said.

Prosecutors say Lovings had a second lucrative career selling marijuana, and the combination of drugs and money led Taylor to target him.

Taylor returns to court on June 9.

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