CHICAGO — A judge this week sentenced a man to 25 years in prison for killing another man in a marijuana dispute, plus another eight years for shooting another man during a robbery — while he was out on bail for a misdemeanor case in 2021.
Cartez McGary, 26, pleaded guilty to murder and discharging a firearm during a robbery in exchange for Judge Joanne Rosado’s convictions. Prosecutors dropped the aggravated fleeing case for which he was out on bail at the time of both shootings.
The murder occurred around 3:35 a.m. on February 28, 2021 in the 9100 block of South Emerald. Prosecutors said 32-year-old Lesean Long was hanging out at his girlfriend’s house when he got a phone call and went outside. Someone shot him.
Police arrived on the scene quickly enough to see a gold Chrysler minivan driving away from the area. They broadcast the van’s license plate number on police radio and tried to pull the vehicle over, but it got away. Police said they also took a close look at the driver.
About two weeks later, on St. Patrick’s Day, McGary allegedly shot a man during a robbery at a gas station in the 8100 block of South Halsted.
Prosecutors said surveillance footage showed McGary arriving at the station in his car and then going inside, where he saw the victim. McGary reportedly went back to his car, moved it to the other side of the station, got out, pulled his hoodie over his head, put on a COVID mask and put something in his waistband.
When the victim left the store and got into his van, McGary walked up to him, pointed a gun at his face and demanded everything he had, prosecutors said. Fortunately, the victim leaned back just as McGary fired a bullet at him. The bullet grazed the victim’s eyebrow and blew out one of the van’s windows.
With that, the victim fought back. He grabbed McGary’s gun and both men fell to the ground in a struggle that caused McGary’s hoodie and mask to come loose, exposing his face and hair to the station’s surveillance cameras, prosecutors said. The victim allegedly disarmed McGary and threw the gun away. According to the charges, McGary dropped his phone, ran to his car and sped away.
Police tracked down McGary using his license plate number, the phone he allegedly left behind and gas station surveillance footage. Officers also found a firearm at the scene.
Prosecutors charged him with the robbery and shooting at the gas station.
Meanwhile, the investigation into Lesean Long’s murder continued. Shell casings from the gas station shot matched shell casings from the murder scene, prosecutors alleged. Police who tried to pull over the minivan after the murder identified McGary as the driver.
McGary spoke to detectives during their investigation and allegedly told them Long owed him half a pound of marijuana. He admitted to shooting Long, but insisted he did so because Long lifted his shirt and revealed a gun in his waistband, prosecutors said.
But police said they found no weapons near Long’s body.
McGary was out on bail on an aggravated escape and shooting case when prosecutors approved charges against him in Long’s murder. When police caught up with him, he jumped from the window of a third-floor apartment, breaking bones in both his legs.
