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Guilty verdict in Rolling Meadows murder case

Nearly five years ago, Marquis Lovings lay bleeding on the floor of his Rolling Meadows condo and “stared into the face of death,” Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mike Andre said.

That face belonged to Patrick Taylor, 42, of Chicago, a Rolling Meadows jury ruled Wednesday in convicting Taylor of first-degree murder.

The six-man, six-woman jury returned the guilty verdict for Taylor following 3½ hours of deliberation. Taylor, who next appears in court Aug. 25, could face life in prison when he is sentenced.

“We're disappointed with the verdict,” Cook County Assistant Public Defender Jim Mullenix said. “There are issues we will raise on appeal, and hopefully we will prevail.”

Lovings' murder marked the collision of two worlds, prosecutors said during closing arguments in Taylor's weeklong trial on charges he shot the 1995 Barrington High School graduate to death on Aug. 19, 2006.

A fledgling rap producer and performer, Lovings, 30, also had another lucrative career selling cannabis, Andre said. That combination of drugs and money led Taylor to target him, Andre said.

The face that loomed over Lovings also is etched into the minds of four eyewitnesses, college friends of Lovings, who were present the night of the murder and identified Taylor as the shooter in photo and in-person lineups.

“You know what that face looks like. It's his face,” Andre said during closing arguments Wednesday, pointing to Taylor.

Taylor, who did not testify, but has repeatedly expressed his displeasure audibly, looked at the jury, shook his head and uttered “no.” A short time later, while Andre showed the jury a photo of Lovings' safe, which prosecutors say Taylor forced him to open, Taylor asked why his fingerprints weren't on it.

Acknowledging the outburst, Andre observed that Taylor “likes to call attention to himself,” which is what witnesses testified he did the night of the attack when he stomped around the condo terrorizing victims, Andre said.

Mullenix had a different explanation for his client's behavior both in court and during lineups when witnesses said he tried to hide his face from them. Attributing Taylor's agitation to being falsely accused and wrongfully arrested, Mullenix referred to the adage that a guilty man can sleep after his arrest, but an innocent man cannot because he's eager to clear his name.

Taylor is an innocent man, said Mullenix, “railroaded” into murder charges by Lovings' family, who he characterized as “uncooperative” with police. Mullenix suggested their reticence relates to Lovings' line of work, confirmed by the duffel bag containing 15 pounds of marijuana found at Lovings' condo.

He suggested Lovings' family decided to pin the murder on Taylor.

“Truth is consistent. Lies change,” said Mullenix, citing inconsistencies among the eyewitness statements. He also pointed out that no fingerprints, DNA or fibers link his client to the crime scene and that a composite sketch produced from a description provided by a man police say Taylor shot during the attack did not resemble the defendant. It did resemble a Chicago man involved in the shooting of a Chicago police officer several months earlier, whose gun was linked by a ballistics expert to the gun used in Lovings' murder, Mullenix said.

“How do we get from the sketch to Patrick Taylor? We get there through Lovings' family members who spoon fed information to (eyewitness Veljko “Charles” Vjelica), who spoon fed information to police,” said Mullenix, adding that police arrested Taylor nearly one year after the murder and 10 months after identifying him as a suspect.

During that gap, Taylor survived being shot 20 times, a crime that remains unsolved.

Rolling Meadows detective Dan Cook testified that Taylor “was a mess” from the shooting and that he did not arrest Taylor when he located him in January 2007 because his poor health made it unlikely he would flee.

Mullinex questioned why the other man shot at Lovings' condo did not testify. Then there is the matter of the second gunman witnesses said accompanied Taylor, who police have not located, Mullenix said.

Addressing the unknown second offender, Andre reminded jurors that it makes no difference who robbed the victims, who struck Lovings or who fired the fatal shots, in the eyes of the law and under the accountability statute, Taylor is guilty.

“But you know it was Patrick Taylor who pulled the trigger,” Andre said. “He turned Marquis Lovings into nothing more than a memory and an exhibit number.”