Bond was denied for three men charged with the fatal Valentine's Day shooting of a 2-year-old boy and his uncle on Chicago's West Side.
Bond was denied Friday for Dionel Harris, 19, who faces one count of murder, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.
On Friday, Jeremy Ellis, 19, was charged with murder and attempted murder, the state’s attorney’s office said. His bond was denied Saturday.
Devon Swan, 26, was ordered held without bond last week after he was charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. [[414799653, C]]
The three are charged with the shooting deaths of 2-year-old Lavontay White and his 26-year-old uncle, Lazarec Collins, authorities said. Collins’ 21-year-old girlfriend, who is 4 months pregnant, was also wounded in the attack.
At a press conference Friday, Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said he hopes the arrests made in Lavontay’s homicide spark questions by the public.
"Our hope is that, through these types of incidents, we as a city start to ask the questions that need to be asked," Johnson said.
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"Questions like 'Why are these people allowed to cycle through the criminal justice system? Where are our state legislators?'" he continued. "'And when are they going to pass the laws necessary to send a message to these individuals that it’s not OK to commit these crimes on our streets?'" [[413776073, C]]
The shooting happened in the city's North Lawndale neighborhood around 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 14, authorities said.
The three victims were in a car in the 2300 block of S. Kenneth Ave. when a blue Chevrolet Spark, occupied by Swan and three others, pulled up alongside and two people inside opened fire, prosecutors said.
The car is owned by Swan’s girlfriend, who loaned it to him after he dropped her off at work an hour earlier, prosecutors said.
Collins was shot five times in his abdomen, back and legs; Lavontay was shot once in the back of the head, prosecutors said. The bullet eventually exited through his cheek. Both were pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital.
Collins’ girlfriend, who was streaming live to Facebook at the time of the shooting, was shot once in the abdomen, authorities said. She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital.
Prosecutors said the shooting was retribution for the shooting death of one of Swan’s friends whom the shooters believed Collins was responsible for.
At least one more suspect is still being sought, police said.
Lavontay was the third child to be fatally shot in Chicago in less than a week. On Feb. 11, 11-year-old Takiya Holmes and 12-year-old Kanari Gentry-Bowers were both shot in the head in unrelated shootings less than a half hour apart on Chicago's South Side.
Takiya died the following Tuesday, and 19-year-old Antwan Jones was charged with first-degree murder after turning himself in late that evening, according to police.
Kanari died that Wednesday, a spokesperson for her family said. No one is in custody in connection with the shooting.
"I think it's important that we don’t let the names of these children be forgotten," Johnson said at a Feb. 18 news conference announcing Swan's arrest. "Lavontay White. Takiya Holmes. Kanari Gentry-Bowers. Remember those names and burn them into your memory. Let their lives and death be a reminder of how we need to come together as a city to reduce the gun violence in these neighborhoods."
