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Men Who Killed Antonio Smith, 9, Were Hunting Rival Gang Members: Police

By Alex Parker | September 19, 2014 3:35pm | Updated on September 21, 2014 6:34pm
 Clockwise from left, Paris Denard, 19; Jabari Williams, 22; Michael Baker, 19, and Derrick Allmon, 19 are charged in the homicide of Antonio Johnson, 9.
Clockwise from left, Paris Denard, 19; Jabari Williams, 22; Michael Baker, 19, and Derrick Allmon, 19 are charged in the homicide of Antonio Johnson, 9.
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Chicago Police Department

CHICAGO — Three of the men charged with killing 9-year-old Antonio Smith were hunting rival gang members when they shot the boy, Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said Friday.

The four men charged in Antonio's slaying — Derrick Allmon, 19; Michael D. Baker, 19; Paris Denard, 19 and Jabari Williams, 22 — were riding in two cars in Grand Crossing on the afternoon of Aug. 20, "looking to shoot members of an opposing gang," McCarthy said.

When they saw two males they thought were rivals, Allmon exited his car and walked to Williams' car, where Williams gave him a gun and told him to shoot them, police said.

As Allmon walked towards his targets, he saw Antonio in a yard. He thought Antonio was yelling a warning to the two targets and shot the boy multiple times, McCarthy said. Antonio had no gang ties — "none, zero,"  McCarthy said.

 Antonio Smith, 9, was shot dead in a South Side yard Wednesday.
Antonio Smith, 9, was shot dead in a South Side yard Wednesday.
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Family/DNAinfo Chicago

Police found Antonio shot multiple times in a yard in the 1200 block of East 71st Street. He was taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Allmon and Baker were arrested Thursday, McCarthy said. Williams was arrested Wednesday as police observed him carrying a loaded weapon. They questioned him and tied him to Antonio's murder, he said.

McCarthy thanked community members and religious leaders who helped with the investigation, providing "vital" information.

"Our investigators initially had very little to work with, but the nature of this murder, that a 9-year-old boy could be gunned down in cold blood, outraged the community," he said.

McCarthy said Allmon was released from prison on parole in August after serving two years of a three-and-a-half year sentence for a gun charge.

"He should not have been on the street to commit this murder," McCarthy said.

Community members raised more than $13,000 in what was called a "bounty" for information leading to the arrest of Antonio's killers. But McCarthy said he was not sure if the reward money factored into the arrests of the suspects.

 

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