Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020 | 8:40 a.m.
Authorities announced Tuesday that they have charged a man with first-degree murder in the death of a 9-year-old boy who was fatally shot while playing in front of his Chicago home.
Word that Darrell Johnson, 39, of Chicago, was charged had been expected since Monday, when Chicago police said they had taken a suspect into custody and were working with prosecutors to secure charges.
Janari Ricks was in front of his family's home in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood on the city's near North Side on Friday playing with friends when he was shot once in the chest.
During a Monday news conference, an alderman who represents on the City Council the neighborhood where the shooting occurred said that the suspect approached the area, aimed at a rival and opened fire. Alderman Walter Burnett said both men had once lived in the area, but that neither of them still lived there.
Johnson was arrested Sunday on the city's South Side, a part of the city where he now lives, after he was positively identified as the shooter, according to a news release. He is scheduled to appear in bond court later on Tuesday.
It wasn't immediately known if Johnson had a lawyer who could comment.
The boy was one of 105 homicide victims in July. He is one of 38 juveniles who have been homicide victims so far this year and the fifth homicide victim of the year under the age of 10 years old.
