Chicago prosecutors have finally charged 56-year-old Mark Barber with the April 2023 murder of his ex-girlfriend, 35-year-old teacher Sa’Mon Richardson, whom he allegedly killed while on parole for domestic violence against his previous partner.
Richardson, who taught at Chicago International Charter School Washington Park, was found dead in her apartment by a neighbor on the morning of April 4, 2023, with a gunshot wound to the head.
“The case seemed to go nowhere, at least publicly, for months,” reported CWBChicago. “Behind the scenes, though, Chicago detectives methodically built a case against Richardson’s ex, 56-year-old Mark Barber.”
Barber was sentenced to 15 years for residential arson and seven more for strangling his domestic partner in 2012 but was paroled in October 2019 before eventually beginning a relationship with Richardson.
Court records obtained by the local outlet show that prosecutors believe the couple broke up in the spring of 2022 but continued communicating and occasionally seeing each other.
Barber allegedly sent texts to a third party that threatened Richardson in March 2023, about two weeks before the teacher was murdered.
On the day before Richardson’s body was found, security camera footage captured Barber holding a hammer and handgun in the kitchen of her apartment without her being there.
Richardson arrived home about an hour later, prosecutors said, citing the video.
Additional videos from the Chicago Police Department show officers later finding the hammer in Barber’s trunk. They were able to track his cell phone location data to the scene of the crime.
Due to the ongoing murder investigation, Barber’s parole was revoked in the summer of 2023, and he is expected to remain in prison until June 2025.
CWB Chicago reported that a grand jury charged Barber with eight counts of murder in January, citing court records.