Suspect in Chicago Cop's Killing Released Under SAFE-T Act Despite Prior Violent Charges

Alphanso Talley, 26, faces charges of killing Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew and gravely wounding another officer. Critics blame Illinois' SAFE-T Act, which ended cash bail in 2021, for his release onto the streets despite multiple pending cases.

Talley's record dates to his juvenile years, with sealed records. Prosecutors say he committed an armed carjacking and robbery in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood in April 2025. Cook County Circuit Judge John Lyke Jr. released him in December 2025 on electronic monitoring pending trial. During the hearing, Lyke said, "There's no doubt these bails would have been set at monetary amounts that he presumably couldn't afford."

On March 8, 2026, Talley violated his curfew by staying out all night. His ankle monitor battery died from lack of charging, triggering an alert to the Cook County Chief Judge’s office that "the individual’s whereabouts are unknown." No one arrested him. More than 48 hours later, pretrial services informed Lyke of the dead battery and a missed court date. Lyke issued an arrest warrant, but no one acted on it.

On the morning of April 25, 2026, one minute after a Family Dollar store opened, Talley and 18-year-old Jeron Tate followed cashier Maria Velazquez inside and robbed her at gunpoint, prosecutors allege. They beat her with the pistol, breaking her nose and leaving a golf ball-sized knot on her head. The single mother of three told a Fox affiliate in Chicago, "I wake up early in the morning, I’m sleeping and I can see his face. I see his face and I can’t sleep." She added, "If I would have died, what would happen to my children? They are still so young and they depend on me."

Velazquez learned of Talley's court history and asked, "They kept letting him out, knowing he had a criminal history. Why did they let him free? This would have never happened. The police officer would not have died."

Police arrested Talley soon after the robbery. He claimed to have swallowed five bags of drugs and needed hospital care for breathing issues, a tactic from prior arrests. In court, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mike Pekara said officers removed Talley's metal handcuffs for a CT scan. Talley then reached under a blanket and shot Officer Bartholomew in the face, killing him. Bartholomew's partner took a bullet to the chin and remained in critical condition.

Talley stole a staff member's ID, shot out glass doors and fled nearly naked in a hospital gown with monitors attached. Officers found and arrested him hiding under a porch.

At a May 1, 2026, hearing in Cook County criminal courts, Judge D’Anthony Thedford ordered Talley held pretrial. Family members filled two rows and called out their love. A deputy watched him closely as Thedford told him to stop giggling during proceedings on the officer's killing.

John Catanzara, head of the Chicago police union, said Officer Bartholomew would be alive without the SAFE-T Act. "Yes, it’s just a simple reality," Catanzara answered. "I mean he wouldn’t have qualified for parole. He would not have qualified for electronic monitoring. He would have had a cash bond that he would not have been able to meet for those extremely violent offenses. So, that alone, the cashless bail let him out and gave him the ability to be out on the street terrorizing."

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke said, "The electronic monitoring system is broken. Electronic monitoring is not an alternative to detention. It does not keep people safe."

Gov. JB Pritzker, who backed the SAFE-T Act, faulted the judge. "In most cases where Republicans have complained about the SAFE-T Act it’s actually been a bad decision by an elected judge," he said. "A judge should have made the decision to keep that person in jail."

Mayor Brandon Johnson replied, "Look, we’ve had an addiction on jails and incarceration. More people get locked up in our country than anywhere else in the world. And yet, we have illegal weapons that flow through our streets and we have a lack of mental health support."

Catanzara shot back, "He’s a sickness and addiction that’s going to be gone in less than a year. And it can’t come soon enough."

Alderman James Gardiner said, "We have a mayor of the City of Chicago saying that he doesn’t think this individual should be incarcerated. He's an embarrassment."

Alderman Anthony Napolitano noted nearly 1,000 people in Cook County’s electronic monitoring program. He said empty jail cells mean little when officers and citizens face constant attacks.

The case echoes others. Lawrence Reed, on ankle monitoring, ignored curfew multiple times, including Nov. 17, 2025, when he set Bethany MaGee on fire aboard a Chicago Blue Line train, police say. Reed faces state and federal charges.