A 13-year-old hid his face behind his hands and scribbled on a sheet of notebook paper as five witnesses opened his murder trial Wednesday by describing how he allegedly shot a man four times during a dice game last year.
The boy, who was 12 at the time of the shooting, is one of the youngest in the state to be tried for the juvenile equivalent of murder.
He is charged with the Nov. 13, 2005, shooting of Deon McGary, 26, of Hazel Crest. Prosecutors allege that the boy shot McGary after he got into a fight with the boy’s cousin. The two men were among several people shooting dice on the Far South Side.
If convicted by Juvenile Court Judge Rodney Brooks, the boy faces penalties ranging from probation to placement in a residential treatment facility until age 21. A child must be 13 to be charged in adult court in Illinois, officials have said.
Charles Minter, 19, testified Wednesday that he heard the boy’s cousin tell him to shoot McGary.
The cousin has not been charged with a crime.
In court, the boy listened without emotion as he sat in front of his mother.
In stark testimony, Minter and other witnesses described how the 6th-grader pulled a handgun from the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt and fired four times at McGary, who was in the 10400 block of South Maryland Avenue.
Quentez Robinson, 22, testified that he saw a group of people shooting dice outside an apartment building and then saw the boy’s cousin and McGary wrestling on the ground. Robinson said he was in a hallway in the building when he saw the boy shoot at McGary after the boy’s cousin stood up.
“Deon was kicking, and I just seen the person standing, still shooting. It was four or five times after the first one,” Robinson said, adding that after the shooting the boy and his cousin ran off.
Simone Rayford, 28, said she was on her way to the store about midnight when she saw McGary and the boy’s cousin wrestling. She said she had seen the boy in the area earlier that day near the two men. Rayford said she was standing about 10 feet away when she saw the boy start shooting.
“He shot him a couple times in the leg and he proceeded to shoot up his body more times,” Rayford said. “I was screaming telling [the boy] to stop. I was in shock. I was in the twilight zone I couldn’t believe it was happening.”
In opening statements, one of the boy’s lawyers, Rajeev Bajaj, said the boy should never have been charged with murder. In their cross-examination of the witnesses, the boy’s lawyers seemed to be suggesting McGary was killed in self-defense.
The boy’s mother on Wednesday declined to comment.
The trial is expected to continue on Thursday.
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csadovi@tribune.com
