(CHICAGO) Keith Daniels did an extraordinary amount of gambling near the end of his life, his girlfriend testified Tuesday.
And it appears the late FBI informant gambled with more than money, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
Daniels was gunned down on April 14, 2013, outside the couple’s Dolton home. The feds say he was killed in front of his family for cooperating against the Hobos “super gang.” Six of the gang’s alleged leaders are on trial for racketeering, and among them is Daniels’ alleged killer, Paris “Poleroski” Poe.
Shanice Peatry, Daniels’ girlfriend, insisted Monday that Poe committed the murder. But on Tuesday, Poe lawyer Patrick Blegen had an opportunity to question Peatry. He asked about Daniels, the couple’s relationship and Peatry’s ability to identify a masked shooter.
However, when Blegen suggested to the judge that Peatry might have falsely implicated Poe to protect a romantic partner — perhaps the true killer — U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp told Blegen not to pursue the idea, calling Blegen’s theory a “complete flight of fancy,” a “waste of time” and “utterly confusing.”
Peatry acknowledged on the stand that Daniels cooperated with authorities against multiple people — creating several potential enemies. In August 2012, she said someone threw a brick through their window with a note that read in part, “every body no [sic] you snitching. you snitched on my brother so Ima [sic] send you to yo brother.”
Daniels’ brother died in 2011.
The feds tried to hide Daniels in Dolton. But Peatry said he continued to visit his old neighborhood to gamble, and she eventually admitted that she was worried that people would follow him home.
Finally, Peatry said Daniels was warned by text message hours before his death about two people “out west” who wanted to kill him.
Prosecutors have hinted someone helped murder Daniels, writing in a recent court filing that “Keith Daniels was murdered by two individuals who used handguns then fled in a Chevy Trailblazer.” Peatry testified she only saw one shooter — though she acknowledged a second person was in a getaway car.
On Monday, she said she recognized Poe’s eyes, gait and “little dreads” peeking out from his mask after Daniels’ shooting.
Peatry admitted she lied to a grand jury when she denied writing in an April 2012 Facebook message that Daniels “is a b—- and he work for the police real talk so now I’m putting his a– out there.”
Poe’s attorney says that note helped expose Daniels’ role as an informant.
The note was apparently directed toward a romantic rival. Peatry acknowledged that Daniels cheated on her, and she admitted she had her own affair around the time of his death. When Blegen asked if she deleted her texts and call history after Daniels was killed, Peatry said she “probably did.”
— Chicago Sun-Times
