Grandfather, Teenage Uncle Charged In Shooting That Hurt Boy, 6
Updated 11/15/11 - 8:13 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Authorities have charged the 14-year-old boy who allegedly shot his 6-year-old nephew during a game of "cops and robbers," as well as the little boy's grandfather, who owned the gun.
Marshown Means was accidentally shot by a gun that was taken out of a locked box in his home, located in the 1700 block of West Steuben Street in the Morgan Park neighborhood.
Initial reports said the shooting happened accidentally during a game of cops and robbers. But Marshown's mother, Nalena Triplett, said her half-brother was jealous and told the little boy he hated him as the shots were fired.
The teenage uncle has been charged as a juvenile with reckless discharge of a firearm, according to police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak. And the boy's grandfather – Napoleon Walker, 50 – was charged late Monday with one count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, she said.
In court Tuesday, Judge Donald Panarese Jr. ordered Walker held on $150,000 bond and set a preliminary hearing for Nov. 21 in Far South Felony Court (Br. 38), Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said.
The juvenile, a 13-year-old boy, appeared in Cook County Juvenile Court on Tuesday and was cited in a juvenile petition with reckless discharge of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm, Simonton said. The teen was released to state Department of Children and Family Services custody and will next appear in juvenile court on Dec. 1.
Prosecutors said Walker gave the 13-year-old, his son, a loaded handgun which the teen later used to shoot his 6-year-old nephew in the upper abdomen. It was not explained why Walker gave the boy the gun. The younger boy underwent surgery after the bullet nicked his liver.
Police say Marshown was shot around 10 a.m. Sunday, as Marshown visited his grandfather.
The shooting left Triplett enraged.
"He didn't like what my father was doing with my son. My daddy is a good father – buying him clothes and shoes and stuff like that, so he got jealous and shot my baby and told him, 'I hate you,'" she said.
Marshown was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, initially in critical condition.
The bullet went through Marshown's diaphragm and nicked his liver, Triplett said He was in serious condition after surgery.
Relatives did not know how the boys found the gun. The boy's mother, Nalena Triplett, who was not at the scene, found out about the incident during a phone call from her brother, who allegedly fired the shot, said Andrew Holmes, director of No Guns No Violence, who was with the family at the hospital. "He told her 'I'm sorry I shot your son. Don't be mad'," Holmes said.
Another uncle, Jerome Triplett, said Marshown has sickle-cell anemia, and likes to sing and rap. After surgery at the hospital, Marshown's mother said he was eager to watch "Spongebob Squarepants."
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is investigating the uncle, the boy's grandfather, and the boy's mother.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
