Reward Offered For Information Leading To Capture Of Killer Of 3-Year-Old Chicago Boy
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Faith leaders in Chicago's Austin community are offering a $2,500 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person who shot and killed a 3-year-old Chicago boy Saturday night.
The shooting happened at 6:30 p.m. in the 600 block of North Central Avenue at Huron Street, police said. The boy's stepfather was driving south when someone in a blue Honda fired shots at his sport-utility vehicle.
The 27-year-old, who police believed to be the target of the shooting, suffered a graze wound to the abdomen and drove to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park. The child, identified as Mekhi James, was shot in the back and later pronounced dead at the same hospital.
Pastor Ira Acree of the Greater St. John Bible Church and other Austin faith leaders and residents plan to gather near the corner where the shooting happened at 2 p.m. Sunday to announce the reward.
"We are calling on the community to speak up and help us get the perpetrator of this crime off the street," said Acree. "This travesty has touched the hearts of so many people in and outside of our community. We are grateful that so many are committed to bringing the shooter to justice."
"While the nation is focused on ending police violence, we can not become immune to the senseless urban violence that goes on every day," said Pastor James Brooks of the Harmony Baptist Church.