Judge Shot Dead Outside Chicago Home

A judge known for being fair, kind, and tough was killed in front of his Chicago home in an act of violence as senseless as anything that passed through his courtroom. Police say Raymond Myles, a 66-year-old judge in Cook County's criminal division, was shot dead outside his South Side home just before 5am Monday after a female friend leaving to go to the gym encountered an armed man, the Chicago Tribune reports. She was shot in the leg after exchanging words with the man, and the judge was shot dead on his porch after going outside to investigate the noise. Police say Myles spoke to the man before he was shot multiple times. The woman was hospitalized and is expected to survive.

Myles dealt with numerous high-profile criminal cases, but police believe the incident was an attempted robbery, not a targeted killing. Police and the FBI say they're following up multiple leads, NBC News reports. The judge is being mourned by colleagues and even defendants. "His ability to control his courtroom with dignity, his ability to transfer that dignity to the accused, people like my client, was amazing," defense attorney Wendelin DeLoach tells ABC7. DeLoach says the judge was known for trying to make sure that every defendant who came into his courtroom obtained a high school diploma or GED. "He ruled his courtroom with an iron fist but with a great amount of kindness, fairness, and justice," she says. (More Chicago stories.)