Hazel Crest Man Charged With Arson In Alleged Plot: Prosecutors

RIVERDALE, IL — A Hazel Crest man allegedly set fire to a car belonging to an Indiana woman who was later found dead in a Dolton alley, according to Cook County prosecutors.

Emmanuel Fleming, 22, appeared in felony bond court Wednesday afternoon at the Markham courthouse. He has been charged with arson. A separate bond hearing was also set for 9 a.m. June 20 when Fleming will be charged with murder, according to Assistant State's Attorney Carolyn Nevin.

The Riverdale Fire-Rescue Department arrived around 12:43 p.m. Friday to an area near 140th Street and found a 2013 black Chevrolet Impala on fire. The car belonged to Alexis Burks of Merrillville, Ind., prosecutors said.

Burks, 22, was found Friday evening in an alley in the 14600 block of south Woodlawn Avenue in Dolton. She suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead on the scene, prosecutors said.

Burks was allegedly "acquainted" with Fleming, and it was her car that Fleming is accused of setting ablaze, according to prosecutors.

Burks was a postal worker and had recently moved out of the south suburbs, according to ABC-7.

Before the fire, Fleming was spotted on a security camera at the HP Gas Station at 169 E. 146th St. in Riverdale — near where the car was found ablaze. Fleming was seen filling four small cups of gasoline and spilling them into a plastic gas can, prosecutors said.

Fleming was also seen driving Burks' vehicle near the scene of the arson, and the same gas can allegedly captured in the video was found within the burning vehicle, prosecutors said.

Fleming is on parole for a 2014 armed robbery where he was sentenced to seven years in prison. He was also sentenced to two years in prison for a 2013 case of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Fleming was charged as a juvenile in 2010 in a case of armed robbery and aggravated battery, prosecutors said.

In an effort to convince Judge Luciano Panici to set a reasonable bond, Flemings' attorney revealed that Fleming has been living with his cousin in Hazel Crest. Fleming also works in construction and at McDonald's. He attended Country Club Hills Tech and Trade school, the defense attorney said.

Panici set Williams' bond at $200,000 with maximum conditions allowed.

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