No bail for neighbor charged with killing 9-year-old girl in front of her father
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 43-year-old man has been ordered held without bail, after he was charged with shooting a 9-year-old girl in front of her father outside their Portage Park home over the weekend.
Serabi Medina was shot and killed around 9:40 p.m. Saturday on the 3500 block of North Long Avenue. She was supposed to enter the 4th grade this upcoming school year.
Michael Goodman, who lives across the street from the Medina family, has been charged with first-degree murder in her death.
Cook County prosecutors said Serabi was riding her scooter on the sidewalk outside her family's apartment building Saturday night, while her father was talking to three friends sitting in a car, when one of the friends gave her money to get ice cream from a nearby ice cream truck.
A few minutes after she bought two ice creams, and gave one to her father, a gunshot rang out, and Serabi's father told her to get her scooter and go back to their apartment. Prosecutors said that's when Goodman walked out of his apartment building across the street, holding a 9 mm handgun.
Serabi's father and his friends saw Goodman walk up to his daughter, and he asked Goodman what he was doing, but Goodman ignored him and followed Serabi to the vestibule of her apartment building, and shot her in the head, according to prosecutors.
Serabi's father tackled Goodman, and the shooter's gun went off as they both fell to the ground, and a bullet struck Goodman in the eye.
Prosecutors said Goodman and Serabi's family did not know each other before the shooting.
Paramedics took Serabi to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Goodman was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition.
Meantime, police searched Goodman's apartment and found a 9mm bullet lodged in the wall, a shell casing, a box of ammunition, and a gun box with a receipt for the gun he used to shoot Serabi, according to prosecutors. Ballistics tests matched the shell casing from Goodman's apartment and the two shell casings from the crime scene to his gun.
Goodman was ordered held without bail at his bond hearing Tuesday afternoon. He was also placed in protective custody and will be on suicide watch. According to court documents, he mutilated himself while in custody.
Community activist Andrew Holmes said he spoke with Serabi's father after she was killed.
"He gave her money to get ice cream. She got ice cream for her and her dad. Then he asked her to put her scooter up, but before she could even have a chance to put her scooter up, this individual ran across the street, discharged that weapon. Now we have a child that's lost," Holmes said.
Family members told CBS 2's Chris Tye there was no prior history with the suspect and that the father and daughter just moved to the neighborhood a year ago.
"We're dealing with another baby that hasn't had a chance to go back to school. I talked to her father. He said she just loved to go to school," Holmes said.
Ald. Ruth Cruz (30th) said this isn't the first time the father has lost a loved one due to gun violence.
"About four years ago, he lost his wife, just like he lost his daughter today. Also, his wife was killed outside where the apartment they lived, and now he is mourning the loss of his daughter," she said.
On Monday night, community members came to remember the young girl.
"Serabi was a beautiful, young, vibrant little girl. She was friendly. She always smiled," said Angie Gonzalez Rodriguez, a family member of the victim. "She was kind. She was full of life. She had her whole life ahead of her."
"How dare you think you can just take anyone's life. A child?" Gonzalez Rodriguez added. "What did that child do to you or anybody?"
The community rallied to remember a vibrant soul known as "B.B."
"Real outgoing little girl, always smiling," said Hector Villafuerta, another family member. "I used to look at her and think, 'Man, she lost her mom ... but this little girl is full of life.'"
Goodman is due back in court on Aug. 23.
