Chicago City Wire

A Chicago man who started a gun fight that left one woman dead has not been indicted on a murder charge. In response, Illinois Republicans claim that the SAFE-T Act was the reason he was not charged with first-degree murder. Rep. Brad Stephens (R-Chicago) supports the legislation being repealed.

Travis Andrews, 26, was one of the perpetrators of the crime. Someone fired back at him after he started a shootout and hit Melinda Crump, 54, in the stomach. Crump later died, with the person who fired the shot escaping. 

"We need to repeal Democrats' failed SAFE-T Act immediately, before more tragedies occur," Stephens said in a post to his Facebook account on Feb. 14. 

Despite not firing the lethal shot, Andrews could have been indicted for first-degree murder for starting the shootout. But due to a provision in the SAFE-T Act, Andrews could only be indicted on a weapons charge. Other provisions of the SAFE-T Act are the elimination cash bail by 2023, certain individuals accused of felonies not facing pre trial detention and additional restrictions on Illinois police officers. 

Law enforcement groups and police unions claim that the SAFE-T Act is a threat to safety of the people. According to the Chicago Police Department, this January was the fourth most lethal January Chicago has had since 2000, with 219 people shot, 48 people murdered, and 791 guns found. During the weekend of Feb. 13, 9 people were shot in Chicago, with 3 being killed. 

Among the people shot was a 16-year-old girl who was walking in Gresham on the South Side on Saturday night. She was moving down the sidewalk when a man she knew fired a gun, with the bullet hitting her in the leg. In response to these and other crimes Republicans continue to lobby for the SAFE-T Act to be repealed, according to a report from Capital News Illinois.