A 21-year-old man, Calvin Merritte, has received a ten-year prison sentence for a shooting incident on the CTA Red Line that occurred nearly five years ago. Prosecutors charged him at age 17 for the December 20, 2021, shooting that resulted in the victim being paralyzed from the waist down and losing the use of his hands.
According to reports from Chicago police and prosecutors, the victim, aged 20, was on a Red Line platform with his brother and friends at about 7:45 p.m. when he noticed Merritte staring at him. The group then left the station for a nearby store and later returned to board a train. Prosecutors stated that Merritte was in the adjacent car. As the train approached the 69th Street station, the victim and his friends moved to the car where Merritte was present.
At this point, Merritte allegedly drew a gun and fired at the victim, hitting him in the neck and right leg. The incident was recorded on CTA security cameras, reportedly capturing Merritte’s face from several angles. Police recovered four shell casings from the train.
A breakthrough in the case came months later when Merritte was arrested for an unrelated armed robbery, according to prosecutors. In that incident, three gunmen emerged from a black SUV to rob and pistol-whip a man on the 1500 block of East 74th Street. Police traced the victim’s phone and eventually found Merritte in possession of it, they claimed in 2022.
Chicago police noted that Merritte’s appearance matched that of the Red Line shooter, leading them to include his photograph in a lineup shown to the shooting victim, who then identified Merritte as the assailant.
During an initial court session, Merritte’s defense attorney claimed that Merritte and his mother had reviewed some of the CTA footage and denied Merritte was the shooter. The attorney also mentioned Merritte had a report card with “three As, two Bs, and a C” at the time of his arrest.
Merritte is expected to be released on parole in February 2031. The outcome of the robbery case remains unknown as it was not filed in adult court.
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