Crime & Safety
Man, 19, Faces Murder Charge In Fatal Shooting Of Takiya Holmes, 11
UPDATED: Antwan C. Jones allegedly was shooting at gang members selling pot Saturday when a stray bullet hit Holmes, Chicago police say.
CHICAGO, IL — A 19-year-old man is accused of firing the stray bullet that struck Takiya Holmes, 11, in the head Saturday on the South Side, eventually killing her, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Antwan C. Jones was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting, the report stated. He is currently being held without bail at Cook County Jail, and his next court date is March 7.
On Saturday, Feb. 11, Takiya was sitting in a parked car with her mother and 3-year-old brother in the 6500 block of South King Drive in the Parkway Gardens neighborhood when the stray bullet hit her. Takiya's mom was giving a friend a ride to work when the incident happened.
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Takiya was taken to Comer Children's Hospital, and according to relatives, the girl died in her mother's arms Tuesday, Feb. 14. After being pronounced dead, Takiya was kept on life support for close to four hours to allow her organs to be harvested for posible transplants, the Sun-Times reports.
RELATED: South Side Girl, 11, Shot in Head Over Weekend Dies
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“I hope it’s the correct person, and I’m hoping justice is served,” Takiya's grandmother, Patsy Holmes, told the Sun-Times on Wednesday concerning the arrest of Jones. “If it’s the right person, I want him to be punished to the fullest.”
According to Chicago police, Jones opened fire Saturday after he allegedly saw three rival gang members selling marijuana, according to the Chicago Tribune. On Wednesday, Jones turned himself into police, and charges were filed after investigators looked at video footage from the shooting, the report added.
Police say Jones has an extensive juvenile record, and court records show Jones has three previous Cook County arrests, the Tribune reports:
- November 2016: He was charged with two counts of domestic battery and a count of criminal damage to property.
- September 2016: He was charged with aggravated assault of a teacher.
- 2015: Hew was charged with reckless conduct.
The shooting that eventually claimed Takiya's life happened less than a half hour after a stray bullet from another incident hit and gravely wounded Kanari Gentry Bowers, 12, while she was playing basketball with friends at Henderson Elementary School in the West Englewood neighborhood. As of Wednesday morning, Kanari still was on life support and in critical condition at Stroger Hospital, according to the Sun-Times.
RELATED: U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush Calls for 'Coward' Who Killed 11-Year-Old Takiya Holmes To Turn Self In
Police continue to investigate both shootings, and they believe they are unrelated.
“One victim of one shooting is one too many, but when innocent children are caught in the crossfire of gun violence and young people have their childhood stolen by stray bullets, our consciences are shaken and our hearts are broken,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement Tuesday.
"These shootings must be a turning point for our city," he added.
RELATED: Chicago Shooting That Killed 2-Year-Old Captured on Facebook Live
On Tuesday afternoon, Lavontay White, 2, and a 26-year-old man were fatally shot in an alley in the 2300 block of South Kenneth Avenue on the city's West Side. A 20-year-old pregnant woman also was injured in the shooting, which was video streamed on Facebook Live.
More via the Chicago Sun-Times
Antwan C. Jones, 19 (photo via Cook County Sheriff's Office)
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