Prosecutor at hearing outlines mob beatings

CHICAGO -- One man allegedly kicked the two men who were fatally beaten by a mob "until he was out of breath" while another smashed the skull of one of the victims with a concrete block.

Those were some of the details presented by a prosecutor Sunday at a hearing for four suspects in the beating deaths of two men who were killed after a van they were in struck three young women sitting on a porch Tuesday on the city's South Side.

Like two other suspects on Saturday, the four men were ordered held without bond by Cook County Circuit Judge Nicholas Ford. The bond hearing of a seventh suspect was continued until today. All seven men are charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of felony mob action and two counts of felony murder based on mob action.

During the brief hearing, Assistant State's Attorney Jim Lynch outlined what the men are suspected of doing in the last moments of the lives of 62-year-old Jack Moore and 49-year-old Anthony Stuckey.

Lynch said Henry Lawrence, 47, admitted in a videotaped confession that he punched Stuckey and kicked him in the back.

He also said he grabbed one of the men's wallets, but threw it back before leaving the scene.

Meanwhile, his brother, Roosevelt Lawrence, 43, stomped and kicked both victims "until he was out of breath," said Lynch, who added Lawrence admitted he "stomped and kicked" the victims during a videotaped confession.

Ricky Lawson, 43, smashed Stuckey's head with a large concrete block, said Lynch. Lawson gave a videotaped confession and was identified by three witnesses, two of whom told saw him participate in the attack and one saying he was at the scene, Lynch said.

Lynch said Lamont Motes, 20, was identified by one witness as one of the participants in the beatings.