Felon charged with killing Chicago police officer Enrique Martinez with a machine gun

A convicted felon was charged Wednesday in the fatal shooting of Chicago police officer Enrique Martinez that erupted during a traffic stop in the South Side Chatham neighborhood earlier this week and also claimed the life of the vehicle's driver.

Darion McMillian, 23, of Harvey, is charged with first-degree murder in Monday night's slayings in the 8000 block of South Ingleside Avenue, police said. Larry Snelling told reporters at Public Safety Headquarters. McMillian used a handgun equipped with an extended magazine and modified to fire automatically, Snelling said.

“On Monday night, our department and our city lost a hero when Officer Enrique Martinez was shot while protecting the city of Chicago,” Snelling said. “Today is the first step in bringing his murderer to justice.”

McMillian also faces charges of attempted murder of a police officer, burglary, possession of a machine gun and possession of a weapon as a felon, Snelling said.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx joined Snelling to announce the charges. Foxx said McMillian is expected to appear at an initial court hearing Thursday at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.

Detective Chief Antoinette Ursitti said a second person taken into custody was released after investigators determined he “was not involved in the murder of our officer.”

Ursitti said Martinez and his partner attempted to stop the vehicle around 8 p.m. Monday and were assisted by other officers in the area. As Martinez and his partner spoke with the driver, they noticed McMillian reaching for a bag and ordered him to stop, police said. That's when McMillian opened fire, striking Martinez and the driver multiple times, police said.

McMillian then pushed the driver out of the vehicle and tried to back up as an officer tried to pull him out, Ursitti said. The officer was dragged from the vehicle and his weapon fired once into the ground, police said.

After the vehicle crashed into a parked car, McMillian ran into an apartment where a woman was inside, Ursitti said. He used a knife to cut off an electronic monitoring bracelet and fled to the 8000 block of South Maryland Avenue, where he was taken into custody.

Ursitti said she hopes securing the indictment “brings some comfort knowing that the person responsible for his murder will be brought to justice.”

Johnson said Martinez “saved lives even though he knew it could cost him his life.”

“This is an example of what our police officers do every day,” Johnson added. “They know the sacrifices and risks of their job, but they still work every day to protect us.”

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun Times

Charges have already been brought against the suspected shooter

McMillian was placed under electronic surveillance in Will County following a recent arrest in Chicago.

The Will County Sheriff's Office issued a warrant for McMillian's arrest last month and he was charged with a felony for allegedly attempting to thwart a drug test, according to court records and Ursitti. At that point, McMillian had already been charged with cannabis crimes.

According to court documents, Chicago police arrested him on Oct. 11 on a warrant. After he was released on electronic monitoring in the new case, Will County prosecutors asked that he be held pending trial on the cannabis charges. This case continued on October 28th.

According to court records, McMillian previously pleaded guilty to shooting into a vehicle in May 2021.

While in prison in that case, he was charged with additional crimes stemming from a group attack on another inmate. He pleaded guilty to a battery charge, which was downgraded from a felony to a misdemeanor on the same day as his other plea deal.

McMillian was sentenced to four years in prison and mandatory supervised release in the shooting case, records show. In the other case, he was only fined and ordered to pay court costs.

Snelling insisted that McMillian “should not have been on our streets with a fully automatic weapon.”

“We must all be outraged by the violent perpetrators who create endless cycles of trauma in our communities,” he said. “We must be outraged by the proliferation of weapons that kill our residents, our children and our first responders.”

He cited other young officers killed in the line of duty in recent years: Luis Huesca, Aréanah Preston, Andres Vasquez Lasso and Ella French.

Foxx noted that she appeared at a similar news conference just last week to talk about officers who were shot at but were not injured. Like Snelling, she blamed Chicago's persistent violence on what she called “excessive gun proliferation.”

“We need sensible, sensible gun legislation at the national level that has an impact here in Cook County,” she said.