Police Have Charged 4 People In The Shooting Of 9-Year-Old Antonio Smith

9-year-old Antonio Smith was brutally shot by 4 gang members who assumed that the kid was a rival gang member. He was shot at least 4 times in the 1200 block of East 71st Street.

In Chicago, gang rivalries are not a joke. Gang members from the Sircon City faction of the Gangster Disciples street gang, Jabari Williams, 22, Derrick Allmon, 19, Michael Baker, 19, and Paris Denard, 19, shot Antonio Smith on August 20 after they thought the boy had shouted at them. The community was outraged at the brutal murder. “The community refused to stay silent and provided us with vital information that culminated in the arrest of these three offenders,” Superintendent Garry McCarthy told reporters Friday afternoon at police headquarters. A fourth suspect was arrested and charged later.

This hasn’t been the only shooting recently in the news. According to an earlier report from the Inquisitr, 61-year-old John Rogers was gunned down in his own driveway on Wednesday as his wife watched, screaming at the heinous sight. “I seen a cop walking up towards him with his gun out, and I screamed,” she said. “I ran out the back door and… ‘boom boom.'”

Antonio Smith’s body was found on concrete just a a few feet away from a railroad that served as a line between two rival gang factions. The 9-year-old kid was not part of a gang, but he lived in a gang-populated area.

The alleged gunman was Allmon, who got out of the car and shot Antonio Smith. “As Allmon approached his intended targets on foot, he came across Antonio Smith in the rear yard of a residence,” McCarthy said. “Believing that Antonio Smith was yelling a warning to his intended victims, Allmon shot Antonio Smith multiple times, wounding him fatally.” Allmon was on parole from the state prison for a weapons conviction when he committed this crime. “He should not have been on the street to commit this murder,” said McCarthy. “The real kicker to this entire case is that it didn’t have to happen.”

The gun used was a.380-caliber handgun. The gun itself is actually tied to another homicide. “Chicago’s murder problem is a gun problem,” said McCarthy. “It’s too easy to get a firearm.”

Antonio has been the youngest gun victim in Chicago so far this year. Having life stripped away at the age of 9 is extremely difficult for the family, as well as the community. The 4 suspects are due in bond court on Saturday.

[Image via Chicago Police]