Witness can't ID suspect in Gurnee attempted murder trial

At first, Christy Kim thought the guy was kidding.

But when the man standing next to her car demanding money grabbed her by the arm and hair, pulled her out of the vehicle and threw her on the ground, she knew it was real.

Her testimony came on the first day of the Lake County trial of Kavin Spivey, 29, of St. Anne, who faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted of attempted murder, armed robbery and other charges

Kim described the harrowing moments of last Nov. 30, when she was robbed by a gun-toting assailant she admits she cannot identify.

She said she routinely stopped at the Shell station at 6050 Route 132 in Gurnee when she lived in this area, and did so Nov. 30 because she was on her way to work.

After filling her car with gas and making a purchase inside the station, Kim said she was sitting in her car as a man approached the driver's side door.

"He said 'This is a stickup, give me all your money' and I said 'Are you serious?'" Kim said. "He lifted up his sweatshirt and I could see he had a gun in his waistband."

Kim said she was dragged from the car as she fought for her wallet, and saw a second man standing near her car.

Both men were in hooded sweatshirts that made it impossible for her to see their full faces, Kim said, and both ran away with her purse.

A clerk at the station chased the men, and police said that's when Spivey used his pistol to fire two shots, both of which missed.

They escaped in a pickup truck police were able to trace from a photograph taken when it drove through the Waukegan Toll Plaza on the Tri-State Tollway without paying.

Spivey, Travis Fleming, 37 and Lamar Hicks, 17, all of St. Anne, were arrested two weeks after the crime.

Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Ari Fisz said Hicks was with Spivey at the gas station while Fleming, the owner of the truck, waited in a nearby parking lot.

Hicks and Fleming have already pleaded guilty to robbery, and agreed to testify against Spivey.

Defense attorney Christopher Lombardo urged Circuit Judge Fred Foreman not to believe anything the two say about Spivey.

"These are two people who are going to tell you they did nothing wrong, but yet pleaded guilty to serious felonies," Lombardo said in his opening statement. "They are the only people locked into this case, and they have cut deals."