The former police chief of south suburban Phoenix, who is charged with his wife’s slaying, pleaded not guilty Friday at his arraignment at the Markham branch of Cook County Circuit Court.
Ronnie Berry, 52, is charged with first-degree murder in the Dec. 18 slaying of his 33-year-old wife, Stephanie.
Her 15-year-old daughter found the body in the basement of the family’s home in the 500 block of East 153rd Street in Phoenix, about a half-block from the police station.
According to Cook County Assistant State’s Atty. Robert Milan, Berry and his wife had argued after he came home from work the morning of Dec. 18.
Milan charged that Berry hit his wife over the head with a 9 mm handgun and dragged her, semiconscious, to the basement. There, he bound her with tape and shot her once in the left chest, Milan said.
Berry eluded police for more than a week after the slaying before turning himself in to Chicago police.
Berry’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 7 before Circuit Judge Paul Nealis.
