After an alleged robbery last summer went awry in Springfield, an Illinois man has been charged with first degree involuntary manslaughter, according to the Springfield Police Department.
Jurvez Hicks, of Cahokia, Illinois, was arrested July 11 and is being held in the Greene County Jail on a $25,000 bond, according to the police.
The charges stem from an incident in July 2023 in which Hicks allegedly met up with another person to purchase a computer. The exchange allegedly resulted in Hicks driving off with the other man hanging on to part of Hicks' vehicle, when a fight ensued that resulted with the person falling off the moving vehicle and dying. An autopsy showed blunt force injuries to the head and torso as the cause of death.
On July 14, 2023, Hicks allegedly came across the victim at Phillips 66, located at 2766 N. Kansas Expressway, according to a probable cause statement written by a Springfield police officer. The man was trying to sell a computer, and Hicks allegedly told him he was interested, offering the victim “$10 and marijuana.”
A Springfield police officer talked with Hicks, 21, on the telephone and in person in August 2023, and Hicks alleged he was with his girlfriend at the time of the incident and paid for the computer. The police did not find $10 or marijuana in the other man's belongings.
Hicks alleged he “slowly drove off” and man began hitting him, trying to take back the computer, according to the statement. Hicks said he hit the man and the man fell off the car.
In the exchange with the police officer, the officer allegedly told Hicks “I did not think he had given (the victim) the money or the marijuana,” according to the statement.
“Hicks then said, once the male had handed the computer to him, he liked it and did not have anything to give him,” according to the probable cause statement.
When asked if he was driving to shake the victim off of his car, Hicks allegedly said “I honestly was,” according to the statement.
Hicks has a confined docket hearing scheduled July 19, according to Casenet, the Missouri courts online management service. A warrant was issued for his arrest at the end of May 2024. Kirsten Poppen is the judge assigned in Greene County.
