A Far South Side man was convicted and another acquitted Wednesday of murder and armed robbery charges in connection with a robbery in a Roseland family grocery in which a woman was killed.
Edward Stiff, 26, was convicted of the charges and Everett Berry, 21, was acquitted. The charges stemmed from the April 10, 1990, death of Desiree Owens, 19, who was fatally shot in the forehead during a robbery at the Owens Grocery Store, 415 W. 107th St.
Neil Spector, who defended Berry in a bench trial before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Richard Neville, said Stiff and a third defendant, who was the gunman, entered the store and announced a robbery.
Owens, a college student who worked afternoons at her family`s store, dropped to the floor and was shot when one of the robbers apparently thought she was going for a gun, Spector said.
The robbers fled with the cash register, Spector said.
Spector said Berry had been at the robbers` home while the robbery was discussed but had not participated in it.
The third defendant, Reginald Allen, 20, of the Far South Side, pleaded guilty to murder and armed robbery charges last month and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
