Woman charged with murder a year after shooting boyfriend in head
As quadriplegic Lavatus McCullough ’s health took a turn for the worse last month, prosecutors moved to up the charges against the woman who had shot him in the head in Logan Square nearly a year earlier. Last week, after a year on a ventilator, McCullough slipped into a coma and died, prompting Cook County prosecutors to again upgrade the charges against his 29-year-old girlfriend, Samantha Santiago, to first-degree murder from attempted murder . Santiago, who had been held in jail in lieu of $950,000 bail on the attempted murder charge , was ordered held without bail at a hearing Thursday at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse . She had previously been charged with aggravated battery in connection with the shooting. Despite his injuries, McCullough had on multiple occasions identified his former girlfriend, Santiago, as the person who shot him. McCullough and Santiago were dating, and Santiago’s 9-year-old son called McCullough his step-father, Assistant State’s Attorney Jamie Santin...