CHICAGO— The Chicago Police Department announced on August 7 the arrest of two men who are suspected for having ties to two separate shootings of children within the last month.
According to CPD, Darrell Johnson, 39, was charged with first-degree murder in a shooting that claimed the life of a 9-year-old boy on July 31. The child identified as Janari Andre Ricks was found dead due to being hit by gunfire while playing in a parking lot in the Cabrini Green neighborhood.
The police reported the incident at 6 P.M. that Friday in the 900-block of North Cambridge Avenue, and stated a shooter approached the victim and several other people outside and opened fire in their direction. Hicks suffered from several gunshot wounds to the chest and was taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital where he later died.
CPD stated on Twitter that surveillance video and calls from the community with vital information led to the speedy arrest of the shooter.
Police said Johnson was taken into custody August 2 without incident where he was charged with first-degree murder and denied bond in a court hearing Tuesday, August 4. Johnson is next scheduled to appear in court on August 24.
Among Johnson’s arrest, CPD apprehended a third party that was involved in the shooting of a little girl over the weekend of July 4. In a Tweet, CPD reported: “Terrell Boyd, 30, was charged with 1st-degree murder and aggravated battery/discharge of a firearm in a shooting that claimed the life of a 7-year-old girl on the 4th of July. Found in Wisconsin, Boyd is the 3rd individual arrested in this incident.”
Natalia Wallace, 7, was playing outside on the 100 block of North Latrobe Avenue in Austin when the three brothers got out of a car driven by Merrill, prosecutors said. Wallace was reported to have been hit in the forehead by a bullet, resulting in her death. Another man, 32, was wounded and suspected by CPD to be the intended target.
The other two men charged for the murder of Wallace are Davion Mitchell and Reginald Merrill; there is still a fourth party that has yet to be charged. Boyd was arrested August 3 on a warrant and expected to report to court August 24.
