CHICAGO (CBS) — A man has been charged with murder a deadly road rage incident on Interstate 80 near the southwestern suburb of New Lenox earlier this week.
Illinois State Police
Phillip E. Rogers, 45, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in the shooting death of 30-year-old Lenier Clayton, according to Illinois State Police.
Clayton was driving home from work Monday around 5:30 p.m. when he was shot during a traffic attack in the westbound lanes of Interstate 80 on his way to the exit for Interstate 355 near New Lenox, police said.
Investigators said Clayton and another driver got into an argument on the highway. When the two got out to inspect the damage, the driver pulled out a gun and fired.
Clayton was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m., according to the Will County Coroner’s Office.
Rogers was later identified as the shooter and arrested.
Clayton family
Clayton’s mother said Thanksgiving was his favorite holidayYet his family will experience enormous emptiness during the holidays this week, just as they will for years to come.
Video from the Clayton family shows him dancing with a big smile – which is how his mother, Lenora, wants to remember her only son.
“He was the life of the party,” she said. “He was a joker, a very good young man.”
Clayton’s mother said she refuses to harbor hatred in her heart for the man accused of killing her son, but will appear in court at every hearing to ensure justice is served.
