Police: 'Armed and dangerous' men sought in Elgin homicide
Elgin police have issued arrest warrants on first-degree murder charges for two brothers in Tuesday's shooting death of a 24-year-old man.
Isaiah Y. Butler, 23, of the Elgin/Schaumburg area, and Xavier L. Butler, 25, of the South Elgin area, are considered armed and dangerous, and people should call law enforcement immediately and not approach if they see them, police said Wednesday morning in a Facebook post.
The homicide victim, Tyler Bey, 24, of Elgin, was identified by his great-aunt Wanner "Jean" Smith, who recently moved with other relatives from Elgin to Tennessee.
"We don't have a clue what happened," Smith said. "I talked to his mom yesterday. They are pretty distraught. We were just as distraught."
Police responded to a call at 10:32 a.m. Tuesday on the 1200 block of Fleetwood Drive and found the victim shot outside. The shooting followed an argument and then a fight among several people in a parking lot, police said.
Bey, identified as Joshua T. Bey by the Kane County Coroner's office, was taken to Amita St. Joseph Hospital and pronounced dead there. A preliminary autopsy report showed he died of multiple gunshot wounds, the coroner's office said Wednesday afternoon.
Bey was born and raised in Elgin, graduated high school and took some college classes, Smith said. He lived for a time with his father in Gary, Indiana, then returned to Elgin, where he lived with his mother and two siblings, Smith said. He worked at the iHerb distribution center on Randall Road in Elgin, she said.
"He was raised to be a pretty good young man. We taught them that if you get around people that don't have good character, you need to separate yourself from them. We are a close knit family," Smith said.
"He was a pretty smart young man. He got mixed up with the wrong people, associations ... You might want to think people are your friends, but nowadays you have to be careful because the ones that you think are your friends are not friends."
Xavier L. Butler was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of felony possession of a firearm while on parole and one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, police spokeswoman Kristie Hilton said. Isaiah Y. Butler was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, she said.
Detectives from the major and special investigation divisions are investigating Tuesday's shooting, which was Elgin's first homicide this year.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Elgin Police Department at (847) 289-2700. Additionally, individuals can provide anonymous tips or information via the crime line at (847) 695-4195 or by texting 847-411 and including ELGINPD in the beginning of the text, along with the message and/or tip information.
"We want to thank our community members for coming forward with information that lead to the identification of Isaiah Butler and Xavier Butler," Police Chief Ana Lalley said in the post. "We continue to seek help from the public so we may bring closure to the family of the victim."
According to Kane County court records, Isaiah Y. Butler and Xavier L. Butler were arrested and charged in December 2012 in Elgin with felony aggravated battery in a public place, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and mob action.
Xavier Butler pleaded guilty in April 2013 to felony aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in exchange for prosecutors dismissing other charges. He served 123 days in jail and got 30 months probation through October 2015, records show.
Isaiah Butler was found not guilty of all charges in November 2014.
Isaiah Butler was arrested and charged in July 2016 with misdemeanor battery and domestic battery, records show. He pleaded guilty to battery in February 2017 and was sentenced to a year of court supervision, which he completed satisfactorily, records show.
• Daily Herald staff writer Harry Hitzeman contributed to this report.