COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — The man accused of shooting an 8-year-old girl in Austin in August was denied bail Monday.
"You shot a baby," Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. told Bernard Jones during a bond hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, 2600 S. California Ave. "You are dangerous."
Jones, 30, is charged with aggravated battery with a firearm for shooting an 8-year-old girl and a 40-year-old woman Aug. 21, prosecutors said.
Jones was in "a heated argument" with someone on the sidewalk in the 1600 block of North Major Avenue when he pulled a gun and opened fire, Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said in court.
The 8-year-old was shot in her right arm, while the woman was struck in her left hand, prosecutors said. The victims had been walking down the street when the shots rang out and were not the intended targets.
Police found eight .40 caliber shell casings on the scene, along with one fired bullet, Scaduto said.
The shooting continued a dark trend of young children being shot in Chicago. A 6-year-old girl shot in Pullman earlier in August was one of at least four 6-year-old girls shot in the city this summer.
One girl was shot along with her uncle, who died, in Park Manor in early August. In mid-July, a 6-year-old girl playing near her Englewood home was struck when she was caught in a crossfire of bullets.
Another 6-year-old girl was shot in Logan Square in June.
According to prosecutors, Jones, of the 3300 block of West 61st Place, has five prior felony convictions, all for drug crimes.
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