Ex-Illinois corrections officer charged with murder after man shot in back
Barnini Chakraborty
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A former Cook County corrections officer has been charged with first-degree murder after a man was fatally shot in the back outside a nightclub near Chicago.
Alan Kettina, 25, was charged Tuesday, with his bail set at $400,000.
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Assistant Cook County State Attorney Jennifer Ravin argued that Kettina should be denied bail for knowingly shooting Mark Asber, 22, and argued that the recently de-deputized officer had used his position with the Department of Corrections multiple times to intimidate others.
“If the defendant doesn’t like someone, the defendant’s temper flares, and he uses his gun and his position to get what he wants,” she said.
There have been at least two other incidents in the past six months in which Kettina had abused his authority and threatened to “pop” someone or showed his badge to intimidate someone, Ravin said.
Prosecutors said Kettina used a Glock 17 to fire four shots at Asber on Sunday in an alley behind a restaurant in Niles, Illinois, where Asber worked. One of the bullets apparently hit him in the chest, passing through his lung, heart, and other lung before exiting. Asber ran into the restaurant’s parking lot before falling to the ground, Ravin said.
The Pioneer Press reported that Kettina admitted to shooting Asber, tried to perform CPR, and remained on the scene until the authorities arrived. Kettina told police officers that he knew it was wrong to shoot Asber because “his back was toward me.”
Defense attorney Ilia Usharovich alleged it was Asber who was the bully, suggesting he was trying to force Kettina to smuggle contraband into Cook County Jail.
“There could have been some defenses relating to use of force for an officer,” Usharovich said. “[Kettina] was threatened to bring contraband into the jail and when he refused, our understanding is that his family … and himself were threatened.”
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She also said Kettina should be awarded bail because he lives with his mother, has an expired passport, and has limited financial resources at his disposal.
Kettina was on the Cook County Department of Corrections payroll at the time of the shooting. He has since been “de-deputized.”