By Sarah Calams
COOK COUNTY, Ill. — Two Cook County Jail inmates are facing attempted murder charges for their involvement in the April 14 attack on multiple correctional officers inside the jail’s maximum security wing.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that a grand jury handed up the indictments against inmates Dante Jeffries and Sharelle Sims. Jeffries, 30, has been in custody since 2017 after allegedly shooting a Chicago police officer after an armed robbery. Sims, 23, who has been in custody since 2019, is facing a gun charge as well as a charge of being an armed habitual criminal.
The two inmates are also facing aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery and possession of contraband charges, according to the report. They will be arraigned on May 5.
When the incident occured, a correctional officer had let Jeffries out of his cell around 3:40 a.m. to get a cup of water. When Jeffries returned, he attacked the officer from behind and dragged him into his cell.
The officer fought his way out of the cell, but Jeffries choked him unconscious. He took the unconscious officer’s keys and handed them to his cellmate, Sims, who started unlocking other cells.
A second officer responded to give aid to his unconscious colleague, and a third officer, who confronted Jeffries, was knocked down with a punch to the face. Jeffries then punched another officer who was stooped over the first officer, according to the report.
At the end of the video, another officer, who was armed with a TASER, ordered Jeffries, Sims and a third inmate, who was let out by Sims, back into their cells as more than a dozen correctional officers responded to provide backup.