A Chicago man has been charged with one count of first-degree murder involving the death of a 54-year-old Elburn man in Oak Forest.
Police said 30-year-old Michael Protho was charged after the Cook County state’s attorney’s office approved the charge Monday following the May 23 death of Edward Lewis in the 15500 block of Long Avenue.
Protho was ordered held pending trial following an initial court appearance Tuesday at the Bridgeview courthouse, according to court records.
Protho, of the 9300 block of South Paxton Avenue, was arrested May 24 after leading police on a high-speed chase, according to prosecutors.
Police said Lewis lived at the Oak Forest address for about a year and was found May 23 dead in the living room of the home by a family friend, according to court documents.
He suffered a blunt force trauma to the head, and police, during a subsequent search of the home, found several pounds of cannabis along with other narcotics, according to the court documents.
Investigators determined a rear window was forced open to gain entry, and Protho and another person entered the home.
Police said the home was ransacked, and it appeared to investigators there was a “strong connection to narcotic sales.”
Court records state Protho had a previous robbery conviction involving the blunt-force beating of an elderly victim in Hazel Crest.
Protho also was sentenced, in October 2022, to 42 months in prison and two years’ probation on a federal charge of unlawful transport of firearms, according to court records.