CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors are once again weighing the death penalty for a man accused of murdering an Uber driver in Lawndale and carrying out a violent crime spree that terrorized parts of the city in 2021.
U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland announced last week that the Department of Justice is now reconsidering its earlier decision not to pursue capital punishment against 22-year-old Edmond Harris, according to new court filings.
Harris has been in federal custody for over four years since the fatal shooting of Javier Ramos, a 46-year-old Uber driver, during a March 23, 2021 carjacking in the 3700 block of West Douglas Boulevard.
“I’ve never known the government to revisit a death penalty decision without new facts,” Judge Rowland said during the hearing, which was postponed to August to allow expedited review of the capital option.
Murder Took Place Just Blocks From Suspect’s Home
Around 3:40 a.m., Ramos was shot in the head and killed by a passenger he had just dropped off. The killer then fled the scene in Ramos’s Lexus GS, according to police.
The shooting happened less than 500 feet from Harris’s residence, and just three blocks from where Harris had previously been arrested five weeks earlier. In that prior incident, he was reportedly found with a crashed hijacked SUV, surgical gloves, and a balaclava-style ski mask—but was not charged.
Federal Case Ties Harris to Broader Spree
In June 2021, prosecutors charged Harris with Ramos’s murder. He was later indicted in a separate armed carjacking of a rideshare driver outside the Willis Tower, captured on surveillance video.
That attack near Willis Tower—formerly Sears Tower—was part of a broader string of violent robberies and assaults stretching across the city and suburbs. The offenders were linked to:
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Multiple carjackings
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Armed fast-food restaurant robberies
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Loop pedestrian attacks
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Late-night armed confrontations with workers through drive-thru windows
Despite the mounting cases, authorities admitted the total count of crimes tied to the crew may never be fully known.
Missed Opportunity To Stop the Violence?
Court records suggest Harris could have been removed from the streets five weeks before Ramos’s death, had charges been pursued following his earlier SUV crash.
That missed prosecutorial moment may now factor heavily into how the case progresses—especially if the Justice Department moves forward with capital punishment.
Do you think prosecutors should pursue the death penalty in violent carjacking cases like this? How do you feel about the role missed charges may have played in Javier Ramos’s tragic death? Drop your thoughts in the comments on ChicagoSuburbanFamily.com.
