State seeks death in Waukegan check cashing store murder

Lake County prosecutors said they will seek the ultimate punishment for the man accused of the execution-style slaying of a Round Lake Park woman and the attempted murder of two other people.

Montago Suggs, 24, showed no reaction to the announcement during a hearing Monday before Circuit Judge Fred Foreman.

Suggs, of Kenosha, is accused of killing Melinda Morrel, 23, during a May 21, 2007, robbery of the Check N' Go at 1147 N. Green Bay Road, Waukegan.

Police say Suggs entered the store about 5:30 p.m. and demanded money from Morrel, a clerk, who was alone in the store.

In a statement after his arrest, Suggs told police he demanded the tape from a security videotaping system inside the store after Morrel had given him $2,000.

Police said Suggs claims Morrel was crouching behind the counter trying to remove the tape when he reached around her to hit the eject button and his gun went off.

Morrel died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Her body was discovered by a customer who entered the store after Suggs left, police said.

Lake County Deputy State's Attorney Jeff Pavletic declined to comment on Suggs' confession but said the decision to seek the death penalty was not made lightly.

"State's Attorney (Michael) Waller and his staff investigated the facts and circumstances of the current cases and the defendant's background," Pavletic said. "After going over all the information, he decided that this was the appropriate decision to make."

Pavletic said Suggs will face capital punishment under the section of the law that allows the penalty for murders committed during an armed robbery.

Five days after Morrel was slain, police say, Suggs took the same .380-caliber pistol into the Ma and Pa's grocery store at 37737 N. Green Bay Road, Beach Park.

He ordered a clerk and a customer to the floor, police said, then held the pistol to the back of the clerk's head and pulled the trigger.

The weapon did not fire because Suggs had neglected to load the first round of the ammunition magazine into the firing chamber, police said.

The clerk got up from the floor and lunged at Suggs, who ran from the building and dropped the gun when he slipped on wet pavement.

Lake County sheriff's deputies captured him in a field in Wisconsin after a short chase. The weapon was matched to a shell casing found at the Check N' Go.

Suggs is charged with multiple counts of attempted murder and armed robbery in the Beach Park case.

Randie Bruno, Suggs' court-appointed attorney, told Foreman she will file a motion to suppress Suggs' confession before the next scheduled court date, May 9.

Court records show Suggs served prison sentences after being convicted of possession of a stolen car in Grayslake in 2001, Libertyville in 2002 and Waukegan in 2004.

He becomes the third man in Lake County awaiting trial in a death penalty case.

Jerry Hobbs III, 37, is accused of murdering his daughter Laura, 8, and her friend Krystal Tobias, 9, in a Zion park on May 8, 2005.

James Ealy, 43, is charged with killing Mary Hutchison, 45, during the Nov. 27, 2006, robbery of the fast food restaurant in Lindenhurst where she worked.

Hobbs is scheduled to appear in court April 14; Ealy is due in court April 7.

All three men are held without bond.