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A 20-year-old Evanston resident is being held without bond and expected to appear in court Aug. 16 to face a first degree murder charge for the July 14 killing of Servando Hamros, 29, according to Evanston Police Commander Ryan Glew.

Khiyran Monroe surrendered to police via his attorney on Monday, July 25. EPD notified the public of his arrest in a news release sent Wednesday evening.

Glew said Monroe turned himself in Monday after investigators had executed a search warrant over the weekend and told his attorney they had “probable cause for an arrest.”

Following Monroe’s surrender on Monday, the Cook County State’s Attorney “reviewed the case and put the charges on late the night” of Tuesday, July 26, according to Glew. Police then “waited for the bond hearing” to occur on Wednesday, “got the information from the bond hearing, and then [issued] the release,” Glew said.

Glew said EPD waited to announce the arrest until after the defendant’s charging and bond hearing due to the additional time it took for these to occur post-arrest.

“Most of the time the arrest and charges are so closely related time wise, they are almost synonymous,” Glew said. “In cases such as this they are not. …The charges are what makes it public, not the arrest itself.”

In Illinois, arrest records are considered public records, except for cases that might impede the investigation, endanger the life of a law enforcement official or correctional personnel or if it would compromise the security of any correctional facility, according to state statutes.

The statutes also say arrests records shall be made available to the news media for inspection and copying “as soon as practical, but in no event later than 72 hours after the arrest.” It also says the arrest record information, should include “information detailing any charges.”

Holding back information on charges until after the bond hearing essentially prevents the news media from accessing the court proceedings, which are considered public hearings under the law.

The circumstances of the shooting and the story that unfolds in the news release are equally bizarre and unclear.

According to the Wednesday night news release, on July 14 sometime before 9 p.m., Hamros and Monroe were both in the North Shore Canal park. Hamros was with his 7-year-old daughter and Monroe was with a woman. The two men apparently did not know each other prior to meeting that night.

Hamros supposedly took a video of Monroe and the woman he was with having sex in the park. The police then say, “It is possible the confrontation escalated and Hamros robbed Monroe.” Commander Glew said he could not comment further on what suggested this possibility to investigators.

Monroe and the woman he was with ran away to Monroe’s parked car, a silver Honda CRV, where Monroe had a loaded gun. The couple drove southwest along McCormick Boulevard searching for Hamros and when they found him, pulled the car to the curb. Monroe, who was about 112 feet from Hamros, apparently fired 17 round at Hamros from the window of the car. One of the bullets hit Hamros in the eye, none hit Hamros’ daughter.

Officers responded to the shooting at 9:05 p.m. Police received 911 calls about shots being fired, but an officer was also nearby and heard the shots. The officer gave first aid to Hamros and when the Evanston Fire Department arrived, they took over, trying to save his life. But Hamros was pronounced dead on the scene. Police say a handgun belonging to Hamros was recovered at the scene as well.

The Evanston Police Department and the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force, NORTAF, investigated this shooting.

Alex Harrison joins the RoundTable for the summer in between his undergraduate and graduate studies at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. More by Alex Harrison

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