Andrew "Drew The Chef" Billingsley Survived Growing Up In Chicago, But Could Not Survive The New "Murderapolis"

Facebook image used under First Amendment Fair Comment and
Criticism, blog post by John Hoff

Andrew Billingsley, who went by "Drew The Chef" Billingsley on Facebook, has officially been identified as the homicide victim killed on the "out of control" Number 19 bus route. JNS blog correctly identified him days ago before all other media. (Here insert usual biting remarks about mainstream media dropping the ball and failing to gather information readily available from social media, in particular Facebook) 

Reportedly, Billingsley confronted a group of...

...youth, one of which shot him. Billingsley died in the parking lot of a nearby gas station at the intersection of 26th Ave. N. and Penn Avenue. Some in the community say he stood up in defense of his son who was riding the bus. That is unconfirmed. One major media entity is reporting the bus driver was Billingsley's relative. It may be Billingsley felt he had some "authority" on the bus based on the driver's authority. 

Apparently, the 17-year-old who allegedly shot Billingsley wasn't buying that. 

Billingsley had a rough patch of criminal behavior from 1998 to 2006 including a stretch in prison.  It should be noted there were no criminal charges (except a very minor charge for "amplified sound") from 2006 to 2014, though at least SOME of that time was apparently spent in prison, AT LEAST from 2006 to 2008. 

But after release from prison, Billingsley was apparently being a reasonably law-abiding citizen, at least in Minnesota.

A mug shot did turn up in Illinois for some kind of charge on July 1 of this year... 

But the link I found, here it is, (click here) doesn't say what the charge was for, whether it was something major or minor. 

At this point I don't have any other information about his activities in Chicago, though Billingsely proudly and repeatedly advertised his Chicago affiliation on his Facebook page including the following image. 

Though Billinsley may have been in the right when he died, could have been acting nobly for the protection of his son and the calm and order of the Number 19 Bus (a task fit for Hercules) he does unfortunately fit the usual pattern of North Minneapolis murder victims with extensive criminal histories, as follows:

(Links are not live) 

27-CR-98-029804

BILLINGSLEY, ANDREW

04/29/1976

03/24/1998

Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Brookdale

Crim/Traf Mandatory

Closed

DRIVING AFTER CANCELLATION

Convicted. 

27-CR-98-067245

BILLINGSLEY, ANDREW

04/29/1976

07/06/1998

Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown

Crim/Traf Mandatory

Closed

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

Convicted. 

27-CR-98-062054

BILLINGSLEY, ANDREW

04/29/1976

08/11/1998

Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown

Crim/Traf Mandatory

Closed

FLEEING A PEACE OFFICER IN MOTOR VEHICLE Not applicable - GOC

Oh, it just gets worse, doesn't it? Convicted. He was on probation for this until 2010, not that it seemed to keep him from getting into other criminal matters. Activity on the case included a warrant request. 

27-CR-02-052820

2020004343

BILLINGSLEY, ANDREW

04/29/1976

07/03/2002

Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Brookdale

Crim/Traf Mandatory

Closed

DRIVING AFTER CANCELLATION

Convicted. Got unsupervised probation. 

27-CR-04-001217

BILLINGSLEY, ANDREW

04/29/1976

01/07/2004

Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown

Crim/Traf Mandatory

Closed

FALSE INFORMATION TO POLICE Not applicable - GOC

Convicted. Had 90 days hanging over his head but did none of it. Had a $50 fine, but didn't have to pay any of that, either. 

27-CR-04-059638

BILLINGSLEY, ANDREW

04/29/1976

09/02/2004

Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Ridgedale

Crim/Traf Mandatory

Closed

DISORDERLY CONDUCT

This was apparently the result of a domestic incident. The conditions include not having contact with a certain named victim "except through family court orders." 

27-CR-05-036375

BILLINGSLEY, ANDREW

04/29/1976

06/10/2005

Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown

Crim/Traf Mandatory

Closed

INTERFERE WITH EMERGENCY TELEPHONE CALL

DOMESTIC ASSAULT IN THE FIFTH DEGREE-FEAR

DOMESTIC ASSAULT IN THE FIFTH DEGREE-HARM

DAMAGE TO PROPERTY IN THE FOURTH DEGREE

DISORDERLY CONDUCT

He pled to domestic assault in the fifth degree, all the other charges were dismissed. He was on probation for this until 2010. 

27-CR-06-023455

BILLINGSLEY, ANDREW

04/29/1976

04/07/2006

Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown

Crim/Traf Mandatory

Under Court Jurisdiction

DOMESTIC ASSAULT BY STRANGULATION

TERRORISTIC THREATS

The strangulation charge was dismissed but he pled guilty to the terroristic threats. 

27-CR-06-085496

BILLINGSLEY, ANDREW

04/29/1976

12/15/2006

Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown

Crim/Traf Mandatory

Closed

PROHIBITED PERSON IN POSSESSION OF A FIREARM Not applicable - GOC

ASSAULT IN THE SECOND DEGREE Not applicable - GOC

TERRORISTIC THREATS Not applicable - GOC

Sentenced to 51 months in prison with credit for 121 days. Does this tend to explain the long hiatus of criminal activity right after this charge? How much of this time did Billingsley actually do? In 2008 there was a request for the trial court record for use in the appellate court, so apparently he did at least two years of this sentence. 

27-CR-13-31879

BILLINGSLEY, ANDREW

04/29/1976

09/30/2013

Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown

Crim/Traf Mandatory

Under Court Jurisdiction

Amplified Sound

Billingsley was proud he "survived" growing up in Chicago. 

But he could not survive the Number 19 bus or the intersection of Penn and 26th Ave. N. in the new "Murderapolis."