Woman fatally shot by estranged husband while on video call with doctor, prosecutors allege in detailing her last moments
“Beloved” by her co-workers as a mental health expert at Cermak Hospital, Jennifer Hamilton had an order of protection against her estranged husband. That didn’t stop him from fatally shooting her while she was on a video call with her doctor outside the Brickyard Mall on Chicago’s Northwest Side, prosecutors said during his bond hearing on Friday.
Alphonso W. Hamilton, 50, who is charged with murder, was denied bond during an audio-streamed hearing before Cook County Judge Kelly Marie McCarthy.
The two were in the process of separating when Hamilton, 47, was shot and killed in a Target parking lot outside the Brickyard Mall, in the 6500 block of West Diversey Avenue, about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, officials said.
The attack began when Jennifer Hamilton, who had an order of protection against Alphonso Hamilton that was due to expire May 9, drove in a white Jeep Cherokee to the home the two used to share in Chicago and parked in its lot to begin a teleconference call with her doctor, prosecutors said.
At 9:29 a.m. she saw Alphonso Hamilton pull in and she told her doctor she had the order of protection. After driving away, he followed, according to prosecutors.
At some point as she remained on the phone, the doctor asked if they should call 911 but she said she “was not very worried about the defendant hurting her,” prosecutors said.
While at the Target lot, her estranged husband again pulled up next to her and parked as she got out and walked to the back of the Jeep and told the doctor she would be back shortly.
When the husband then exited his car and approached her, the doctor saw Jennifer Hamilton “make a sudden movement” and go move back to the driver’s door and begin to open it while telling the doctor to call 911, prosecutors said.
As she tried to dart away, he shot her five times, prosecutors allege, and then fled the scene, driving to the Schiller Park police station, where he confessed to “shooting somebody,” according to a Chicago police report and prosecutors.
The doctor stayed on the call until police, responding to a ShotSpotter call, got to the scene, prosecutors said.
After turning himself in, Hamilton told police he shot her five or six times after asking her if she was seeing anyone else and she said yes, according to prosecutors.
After thinking about turning the gun on himself he called his mother, who suggested he turn himself in, according to prosecutors.
Jennifer Hamilton, who died of multiple gunshot wounds, was pronounced dead at 10:20 a.m. at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, which ruled her death a homicide.
Alphonso Hamilton has one felony conviction, a domestic assault from 2003 in Missouri for which he was sentenced to three years in the department of corrections, as well as two misdemeanors, both of which were domestic assaults from 2001 and 2003, prosecutors said.
Hamilton, who was “beloved by her co-workers,” was a union steward for SEIU Local 73 and worked as a mental health specialist at Cermak Health Services, located on the campus of the Cook County Jail, according to a statement from union President Dian Palmer.
“Our union is devastated over the tragic loss of our dear member and union steward Jennifer Hamilton,” Palmer said.
“For the past four years, Jennifer was a staunch advocate for her patients and for her union sisters and brothers. Jennifer had a sincere passion for her work in mental health. When you spoke with her, you understood her commitment to providing the best care possible for her patients, before and throughout the pandemic,” Palmer said in the statement. “Her tragic death will be felt by everyone whose lives she touched.”
Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, who also spoke about the attack, stressed the need for the community to notify authorities if they see signs of domestic violence.
Hamilton is due back in court on May 18.
