CHICAGO (AP) - A second man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a 7-year-old girl who was killed while celebrating the July Fourth holiday with her family on a street on the city’s West Side.
Davion Mitchell, 22, is charged with first-degree murder and other counts in the killing of Natalia Wallace and wounding of a man who police believe was the intended target of the suspected gang-related attack.
Reginald Merrill, 33, was arrested last week and charged with murder in the attack. Police allege that Merrill drove the car that Mitchell and two other suspects climbed out of before firing several times in the direction of a family party. The other two men, who are believed to be brothers, are still being sought.
Prosecutors said they found high-quality surveillance footage that showed the faces of the three shooters and that Mitchell was identified by a witness, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Defense attorney Nicole Massarello said at a Wednesday bond hearing there was little evidence connecting Mitchell to the shooting. Massarello, in asking the judge to set bail, described Mitchell as a religious man who volunteers at his church, and a father of two daughters who supports his family as a local rap musician.
But Judge David Navarro ordered Mitchell held without bond, saying he believed Mitchell posed a “threat to the safety of the community.”
The shootings happened during a bloody July 4 holiday weekend in which 17 people were fatally shot and 70 more were wounded throughout the city.
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