(Lake County, IL) Late evening, Monday, January 22, 2024, a jury convicted Azim Ibrahim of First-Degree Murder in connection to the 2022 shooting of a Fox Lake man.
The jury trial began on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, lasting five days. The jury heard from more than a dozen witnesses, including law enforcement officers, medical personnel, and expert witnesses.
Ibrahim, 38, was first charged in December 2022, after Fox Lake Police Department officers responded to a report of shots fired at an apartment building on Mineola Ave. When officers arrived, they found Roy Hoffman, 77, with a large gunshot wound to the head. Mr. Hoffman was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Law enforcement officers eventually learned through phone records, eyewitnesses, and surveillance video that Mr. Hoffman had arranged to have a “romantic relationship” with a woman on the night of the murder. This investigation led to the arrest of Ibrahim on December 13, 2022.
After the verdict, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart stated, “First, let me commend the Fox Lake Police and the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force on their outstanding investigation of this horrible crime. The agencies worked together to solve this case quickly. Our trial team did an incredible job of keeping the jury focused on the critical facts – that Mr. Ibrahim controlled the situation with his firearm and that he chose to kill Mr. Hoffman in cold blood.”
At the trial, officers testified that further investigation showed Ibrahim drove the woman to Mr. Hoffman’s residence and waited for her outside. Eyewitnesses testified that at some point, Ibrahim retrieved the high-powered pistol from his vehicle and entered Hoffman’s building.
The woman testified that when Ibrahim got up to Mr. Hoffman’s apartment, Ibrahim knocked on the door and confronted Hoffman. After meeting resistance from Hoffman, Ibrahim forced his way into the apartment, ordered Hoffman to the ground, and shot him. After shooting Mr. Hoffman, Ibrahim walked out the residence and the woman followed him out.
An expert from the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory testified that the weapon used to kill Mr. Hoffman was an AK-47 style semi-automatic pistol.
Ibrahim gave inconsistent statements during his interrogation and eventually claimed to police that he was acting to defend himself and the woman after she claimed she had been sexually assaulted.
But at the trial, the woman denied telling Ibrahim she had been sexually assaulted. The woman also described how Hoffman was unarmed and did not threaten Ibrahim or reach for any weapons.
Ibrahim decided to take the stand in his own defense and again claimed self-defense even though no weapons were found in Hoffman’s apartment and Ibrahim entered the residence pointing his firearm at Hoffman.
The State was represented by Chief Deputy of the Criminal Division Jeffery Facklam and ASA Kyle Doyle from the Human Trafficking Task Force of the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office. Lake County State’s Attorney Human Trafficking Investigator Devin Roush and Special Investigator John Metcalf assisted in the preparation of the trial. Victim Specialist Kim Clark provided support to Mr. Hoffman’s family through the investigation and trial and will continue to do so after the verdict.
Rinehart further noted, “This case started with acts of exploitation against the woman in question and turned into a tragic murder. Our Human Trafficking Task Force was critical to this successful investigation and prosecution.”
Ibrahim was represented by local defense attorneys James Schwartzbach and Kristian Norby.
Before the trial, Ibrahim was being held in the Lake County Jail on a $5 million bond. (This cash bond was set by a judge in late 2022, before the effective date of bail reform which now prevents individuals charged with murder from posting bond if a judge so decides at the beginning of the case.) After the guilty verdict, Judge Lombardo revoked Ibrahim’s ability to post bond.
Ibrahim is facing a minimum of 45 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. His next court hearing is scheduled for February 20, 2024.
