Chicago City Wire

Alexander Villa, convicted of the 2011 murder of off-duty police officer Clifton Lewis, has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming his 2019 conviction was the result of a scheme by prosecutors and police to manufacturer evidence against him.

Villa’s wrongful conviction lawsuit comes five months after former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx exonerated him when her office announced it would not retry the case after Cook County Judge Carol Howard ordered a new trial.

The move infuriated police, prompting the Fraternal Order of Police to demand Foxx’s successor, Eileen O’Neill Burke, re-indict and retry Villa, 37, or “else lose any chance of support from the police union.”

Burke’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Chicago City Wire on whether it plans to take any action against Villa.

Lewis, 41, was shot and killed will working security at a West Side convenience store during his off hours. He was earning extra money to pay for his upcoming wedding. The other two arrested for the crime, and cleared by Foxx in 2023, were Edgardo Colon and Tyrone Clay. All three were members of the violent street gang, the Spanish Cobras.

In August 2023, Villa's motion for a new trial was denied. He was sentenced to life in prison.

In a preemptive move to block Foxx from freeing Villa, lawyers for the FOP a motion on behalf of Lewis’s mother, Maxine Hooks, and his sister, Nicole Johnson. The motion cited the protections in the Illinois Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act.

In the motion, the attorneys, Timothy Grace and James McKay, recounted the events of December 29, 2011 at M&M Quick Foods located at 1201 North Austin Boulevard.

Villa, they said, entered the store with a “known and fellow Spanish Cobra gang member," and announced their intention to commit an armed robbery.

Lewis announced that he was a Chicago Police Officer and ordered them to stop. Lewis then opened fire and Villa and his accomplice returned fire.

“Officer Lewis was shot a total of four times by Villa and his co-defendant, that being three to the right back and one to his abdomen,” the attorneys said. “Officer Lewis was brought to Stroger Hospital where he passed away due to Villa's actions.”

Citing the protections in the Crime Victims Act, the attorneys said “it is these protected victims’ position that the Cook County State’s Attorney is not honoring the statutory rights that are given and that they are in need of private counsel to protect their interests, to ensure that justice is served, and that Officer Lewis’s murderer is properly and fairly prosecuted.”

The family was brushed aside.