5 Years After Fatal Shooting Of 14-Year-Old Dajae Coleman, Murder Trial Begins

EVANSTON, IL — Nearly five years ago, 14-year-old Evanston Township High School freshman Dajae Coleman was fatally shot as he walked with friends on Church Street in Evanston. Police said that Wesley Woodson, then 20, an Evanston resident and affiliate of the Gangster Disciples, mistook Coleman, an honor student who hoped to play basketball for the Wildkits, for someone else and began shooting at the group of teens as they walked home from a party.

Coleman would have finished ETHS last year — his class held a memorial to him at graduation — and could have been ready to start college this fall. His mother, Tiffany Rice, started the Dajae Coleman Foundation in his memory, offers scholarships and other opportunities.

Woodson was arrested about a week after the murder, but his trial has been delayed repeatedly. He pleaded not guilty in 2012, and his first-degree murder trial began this week in Skokie.

Opening arguments got underway Tuesday, with a prosecutor describing him as a "gangbanger" and his defense attorney asserting there is no physical evidence tying him to the shooting, according to the Chicago Tribune.

"Five times he fired...directly at them," said Assistant State's Attorney Michele Gemskie, describing Coleman and his friends as they walked home from his first high school party, according to the paper. "Some of these kids could feel bullets whizzing past them."

Police and prosecutors argue Woodson shot Coleman in a case of mistaken identity and perceived retaliation for a fight that occurred earlier that night in which one of Woodson's family members was injured. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Evanston — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Woodson's lawyer pointed out some of the prosecution's witnesses have changed their accounts of events and noted how difficult it would have been to identify anyone the night of the shooting.

"It was dark outside, folks." Michael Krejci said, according to the Tribune. "It's very dark. It's pitch black."

Associate Judge Lauren Edidin allowed into evidence a text message that in which Woodson appears to seek an ammunition clip to carry 9 mm bullets, the same caliber that was used to shot Coleman.

On Wednesday, a witness who twice identified Woodson took the stand, the Tribune reported. Woodson's attorney Steven Randy Rueckert noted the witness had told police he was only 40 certain he had made a correct identification in the first photo lineup.

ETHS surveillance footage was played in court showing the group of youth, including Coleman and the witness, walk through the frame before taking off running, according to the Tribune. Prosecutors argue that Woodson killed Coleman in a mistaken case of retaliation for a fight involving Woodson's cousin that took place earlier that night.

Just four months before Woodson was arrested in connection with Coleman's death, Woodson was warned by Edidin during a separate gun-related case in which he was acquitted, according to a Patch report.

“You’ve got to cut it out,” Edidin told Woodson and a co-defendant, according to a transcript from 2012. “I mean, you’ve got to make a choice of what you’re going to do. If you’re going to continue doing this, you’re going to see me or some of the other judges in the building very soon.”

More than five years later, Woodson is still in Edidin's courtroom in Skokie, this time facing a minimum of 20 years in prison if convicted of murdering Coleman.

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_{Top image Wesley Woodson, Dajae Coleman | via Evanston PD, Tiffany Rice}