Authorities in Illinois say they have charged a 22-year-old man in the fatal shooting of a 9-year-old boy, who was slain in what investigators described as an execution-style killing in November.
Dwright Doty was charged Monday with first-degree murder in the death of Tyshawn Lee, Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the Associated Press.
Doty was the suspected triggerman in Tyshawn’s shooting, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Authorities said Tyshawn, a fourth-grader, was lured into an alley on the city’s South Side in November and shot in the head in an apparent gang retaliation against his father.
Police said a suspect or suspects approached the boy in a park, engaged him in conversation and then led him down an alley, where he was slain.
An autopsy report showed that bullets hit his thumb and hand and grazed his back.
The shot that killed Tyshawn struck his head, according to reports.
The incident was thought to stem from an incident in which 25-year-old Tracey Morgan was killed after a “call in” meeting with authorities – a police tactic to help reduce gang-related violence in the city, according to USA Today.
After Tyshawn’s death, police arrested and charged Morgan’s brother, Corey Morgan, in the execution-style death.
At the time, police did not specify what role Morgan played in the killing but said there were at least two other suspects. One was identified as 22-year-old Kevin Edwards.
Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said “the assassination of a 9-year-old child” was “an act of barbarism.”
Law enforcement sources told the Chicago Tribune that Tyshawn’s death was connected to his father’s involvement in a gang-related conflict.
But Tyshawn’s father, 25-year-old Pierre Stokes, disputed authorities’ characterization, telling the Chicago Tribune in November that no one would have a motive to hurt him – and that if someone did, he would not target his son.
“I’m not hard to find,” he told the newspaper.
He argued that authorities were focused on the wrong person.
“They’re more worried about me. Why are you worried about me, not the killer?” he told the newspaper. “I’m not the killer. Worry about the killer.”
Still, Stokes said, he took responsibility for not being by his son’s side.
“To be honest, I feel bad,” he told the newspaper. “I feel like it’s my fault.”
Doty was already in custody on a felony gun charge. He is being held on $1 million bail.
A news conference to discuss the new murder charge against him is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
