COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Prosecutors believe a Garfield Park car crash led to the murder of 16-year-old Mysean Dunning in 2015.
The teen was standing outside near his home in the 3300 block of West Van Buren Street about 11:55 p.m. Nov. 25, 2015, when a gunman shot him once in the face at close range, Assistant State's Attorney Holly Grosshans said during a bond hearing Thursday.
Authorities have identified the shooter as 20-year-old James Armstrong.
Roughly five hours before the crash, Armstrong, then 19, was driving a white Lincoln that spun out and crashed into a black car near Van Buren Street and Homan Avenue, prosecutors said. Mysean and two others were inside the black car.
Armstrong and others in the Lincoln fled the area after the crash, leaving their car behind, Grosshans said. Mysean and the other occupants of the black car then smashed out the abandoned Lincoln's windows, prosecutors allege.
About 11:55 p.m., Armstrong and an unidentified accomplice returned to the scene of the crash — which was a half-block from Mysean's home — and began walking toward the teen, who was standing outside, prosecutors said. That's when Armstrong allegedly shot Mysean once in the face.
Armstrong and his accomplice then fled in an SUV, Grosshans said.
Mysean's sister found him collapsed on the sidewalk, and the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office pronounced the boy dead shortly after midnight Nov. 26, 2015.
According to prosecutors, a witness identified Armstrong as the shooter. Both the car crash and fatal shooting were captured on surveillance video.
Armstrong, of the 4100 block of West Grenshaw Street, is charged with first-degree murder. Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. on Thursday denied Armstrong bail.
Armstrong currently has a pending drug case. He was arrested for that matter in May of this year.
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