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3rd Man Charged In Tyshawn Lee Murder That 'Shocked The Entire Nation'

 Kevin Edwards, 23, was the third of three suspects caught in the killing of Tyshawn Lee, 9.
Kevin Edwards, 23, was the third of three suspects caught in the killing of Tyshawn Lee, 9.
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Chicago Police Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A third man has been charged in the murder of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee, the South Side boy who was viciously targeted during an ongoing gang war involving his father.

Tyshawn was playing near swings in Auburn Gresham on Nov. 2 when alleged gunman Dwright Boone-Doty, 22, lured the boy into an alley and shot him multiple times, prosecutors said.

Boone-Doty later bragged to a cellmate about shooting Tyshawn in his face — laughing as he described the attack and how he wanted to kill more children, according to authorities.

RELATED: Tyshawn Lee's Killer Laughed About Murder, Wanted To Kill More Kids: Police

"This is a crime that has shocked the city to its core," Cook County Judge James Brown said during a bond hearing Wednesday. "It actually shocked the entire nation ... that a 9-year-old boy could be executed while playing basketball because he was related to a gang member ... through no fault of his own."

Boone-Doty and accomplice Corey Morgan were previously charged and held without bail.

A third and final suspect, 23-year-old Kevin Edwards, was arrested on a warrant this week and charged with first-degree murder. He, too, is being held without bail pending trial.

Prosecutors in court Wednesday described Edwards as the getaway driver of a black SUV that was seen speeding away from the murder scene.

His public defender argued that Edwards has only "minimal mental faculties and resources." Edwards was enrolled in special education classes in grammar and high school, she said, and couldn't have come up with a deadly plot to kill Tyshawn.

Tyshawn Lee, 9, was killed Nov. 2.

According to authorities, Tyshawn's murder stemmed from "an ongoing gang war" between the BBG (Bang Bang Gang)/Terror Dome faction of the Black P Stones and the Killaward faction of the Gangster Disciples.

Morgan, Boone-Doty and Edwards are Black P Stones, prosecutors said, while Tyshawn's dad, Pierre Stokes, is a Gangster Disciple.

The feud came to a boil after an Oct. 13 shooting in which Corey Morgan's brother, Tracey Morgan, was killed and their mother was wounded. Morgan was so enraged he threatened to shoot "grandmas, mamas, kids and all" in retaliation, according to authorities.

Corey Morgan, Boone-Doty and Edwards went out daily, armed with guns, looking to retaliate, Assistant State's Attorney Jamie Santini said during a bond hearing Wednesday.

On Nov. 2, the group was riding in Edwards' black SUV when they spotted Tyshawn at Dawes Park near 80th Street and Damen Avenue, prosecutors said.

The boy was playing on a swing when Boone-Doty got out of the SUV, walked toward Tyshawn and began dribbling a basketball the boy had brought with him to the park, according to Santini.

That's when Boone-Doty allegedly lured Tyshawn into an alley by offering to buy the boy anything he wanted from a nearby corner store. Boone-Doty is accused of shooting Tyshawn multiple times in the alley — striking the boy in his head, back, right forearm and right hand.

Multiple witnesses identified Boone-Doty, Morgan and Edwards as the men fleeing the scene shortly after the murder, prosecutors said.

After the shooting, the trio bought cleaning supplies and tried to wipe off the inside and outside of Edwards' black SUV, Santini said. The men reset the vehicle's GPS program and abandoned the SUV, prosecutors said, but police were able to recover GPS data that places Edwards at the scene of the murder.

Edwards fled Chicago after the murder, but was arrested this week in Vermillion County, court records show.

In March, Stokes was charged with attempted murder for shooting three people, including Corey Morgan's girlfriend and two of the woman's nephews.

Tyshawn's father, 25-year-old Pierre Stokes, is charged with attempted murder.

Prosecutors have described the shooting as one of the latest in the "ongoing gang war" that killed Tyshawn.

Stokes allegedly said, "I'm going to kill you, b----," before opening fire in an Auburn Gresham parking lot on March 8. The attack happened a half mile from where Tyshawn was killed in what police have called a "hateful act of treachery."

If convicted, Stokes could face natural life in prison.

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