Theresa Matthews wiped away tears Thursday as a Cook County prosecutor read details in a Markham courtroom about the state in which her daughter’s body was found more than two decades ago on a trail in Dixmoor.
The prosecution then outlined jailhouse conversations in which Willie Randolph told other inmates about how a group of “young dummies” originally convicted of raping and killing 14-year-old Cateresa Matthews had been released and about how he had shot a young girl in the mouth after she begged for her life.
Randolph, a convicted sex offender, now stands charged with the murder of Cateresa in November 1991, and on Thursday Cook County Judge Tommy Brewer denied him bail. According to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, more charges are expected against the 58-year-old man.
“It’s been hard, but I have to fight for my daughter, and I am going to fight,” Theresa Matthews said shortly after Thursday’s hearing.
But her daughter won’t be able to rest in peace until justice is served, she said.
A group of men, known as the Dixmoor Five, was exonerated after DNA testing pointed to Randolph five years ago. At that time, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said DNA evidence alone wasn’t enough to bring charges.
But the case was revived after former Dixmoor police Chief Ron Burge asked Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart in 2014 to step in, which led to Randolph being charged.
“Because of the difficulty of following cases where other people have been charged, convicted and spent time in prison, you have to work very diligently to put together a really strong case, which we have,” Dart said after the hearing.
The investigation of Cateresa’s killing highlighted many of the deep flaws in Cook County’s criminal justice system, in particular the reluctance of prosecutors to abandon cases built on confessions even when they’ve been undermined by DNA evidence.
According to prosecutors, Cateresa was waiting at a bus stop after leaving her grandmother’s when Randolph abducted and sexually assaulted her near Interstate 57 in Dixmoor, then shot her in the mouth with a .25-caliber handgun.
In April and June, detectives interviewed inmates at the Danville Correctional Center who told them Randolph said an issue from his past had caught up to him in 2011 and that “he was worried,” according to prosecutors. Randolph has been serving time in state prison for violating terms of a supervised release on a drug conviction.
Randolph told one inmate, identified as Individual B, he had sex with a female who was found dead on a trail and authorities had told him his DNA had been found in her, prosecutors said.
Randolph told Individual B that he was not too worried because an Indiana man had confessed and others already had been released from state prison in connection with the case, prosecutors said.
However, Randolph was concerned about another woman who could expose him if she told police what he had done to her, according to prosecutors. That woman was identified by prosecutors as a former girlfriend of Randolph’s who had been raped by him on at least two occasions, according to prosecutors.
Randolph said his former girlfriend had come forward to help the “young dummies” get out of prison, and that he was going to kill her when he got out, according to prosecutors.
According to prosecutors, Individual B also said Randolph described having sexual relations with the girlfriend on the same trail where Cateresa’s body was found.
On April 27, Randolph, Individual B and another person, identified as Individual C, had a conversation during which Randolph said he killed a woman with a handgun.
Randolph described walking up the trail with his arm around her, and threatened her if she didn’t go with him, according to prosecutors. He then told the victim to open her mouth, put a gun in her mouth and shot her.
He later told Individual C that the victim was a young girl he knew from the neighborhood and that the victim was begging him not to shoot her, prosecutors said.
Randolph was being held recently at Stateville Correctional Center on a drug conviction, state records show. He was scheduled to be paroled in March, but officials kept him behind bars because an approved housing site could not be found, a requirement before a registered sex offender can be released.
But he was set to be released in less than three weeks, authorities said.
Randolph has about a dozen convictions dating to the 1970s.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 22.
Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter.
