Final Suspect In Slaying Of Tyshawn Lee Charged With Murder
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The third and final suspect in the execution-style shooting of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee has been brought back to Chicago to face murder charges.
Kevin Edwards, 23, was arrested Saturday evening in downstate Danville, after a Vermilion County Sheriff's deputy pulled over a vehicle for a traffic violation. The sheriff's office said Edwards was a passenger in the vehicle, and fled on foot after the vehicle was pulled over. A deputy chased Edwards and caught him about a block away.
Edwards was ordered held without bail at a bond hearing Wednesday afternoon.
"The case is now closed with the arrest of the three offenders," Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in an email.
Two other men – 22-year-old Dwright Boone-Doty and 27-year-old Corey Morgan – also have been charged with Tyshawn's murder. Prosecutors said Edwards drove Morgan and Boone-Doty to and from the scene of the murder. Boone-Doty allegedly fired the shots that killed Tyshawn. All three are being held without bail.
Edwards' public defender said he was a special education student, and doesn't have the mental capacity to plot the execution-style murder.
Authorities have said the shooting was retaliation for another gang killing tied to Tyshawn's father. Investigators have said he was targeted in retribution for the killing of Morgan's brother, Tracey Morgan, who was gunned down three weeks before Tyshawn was killed. Morgan's mother was shot in the arm during the attack.
"This was a targeted assassination by [Dwright Boone-Doty], Kevin Edwards, and Corey Morgan. These are calculated killers whose actions define the words brutality and cowardice," First Deputy Police Supt. John Escalante said in March, when he was the acting superintendent.
Boone-Doty allegedly planned to torture the child by cutting off his fingers and ears. He allegedly lured Tyshawn away from a basketball court by offering to take him to a store, and then shot him multiple times in an alley.
Prosecutors said Boone-Doty originally planned to kill Tyshawn's grandmother, and to torture Tyshawn, because Tyshawn's father, Pierre Stokes, was a member of a rival gang.
Police and prosecutors said both shootings stemmed from an ongoing gang war between the Terror Dome faction of the Black P-Stones and the Killa Ward faction of the Gangster Disciples.
Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said on Oct. 13, 25-year-old Tracy Morgan was shot and killed while sitting in a car with his mother, who also was wounded in the attack. Morgan's brother, Corey Morgan, planned to retaliate, and allegedly said he "was going to kill grandmas, mothers , and children," Avlarez said.
Corey Morgan, Boone-Doty, and Edwards – all purported Terror Dome members – allegedly went out daily, armed with guns, seeking to retaliate for that shooting, Alvarez said. On Oct. 18, 2015, Boone-Doty and Edwards allegedly spotted 19-year-old Brianna Jenkins and 20-year-old Deshari Bowens sitting in a car near 78th and Honore, and believing Bowens was a rival gang member, Boone-Doty walked up to the car, and fired multiple shots, killing Jenkins and wounding Bowens.
Then, on Nov. 2, Boone-Doty, Corey Morgan, and Edwards were still seeking retaliation when they arrived at Dawes Park, at 80th and Damen, and spotted Tyshawn playing with a basketball in the playlot, Alvarez said. Morgan and Edwards drove off in an SUV while Boone-Doty stayed behind.
Tyshawn put down his basketball and began playing on the swings at the park, and Boone-Doty walked up to him and offered to take him to the store and buy him anything he wanted, Alvarez said. The two then walked into a nearby alley, where Boone-Doty allegedly shot Tyshawn multiple times at close range.
Authorities said Boone-Doty admitted his role in the killings, and said when he shot Tyshawn he "seen that bitch go in his head."