COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A South Shore man with a history of gun violence has been charged with fatally shooting his pregnant girlfriend and her 16-year-old brother in a brazen Nov. 3 attack that also critically wounded two women.
According to prosecutors, Darryl Benton-Harris, 19, began dating Emoni House, 20, last summer.
Benton-Harris became "a fixture" at House's South Chicago home until May of this year, when House gave birth to the couple's first child, Assistant State's Attorney Becky Walters said during a bond hearing Friday.
Benton-Harris and House saw each other sporadically after the baby's birth, prosecutors said, and House soon found herself pregnant with the couple's second child.
House was four months along on Nov. 3 when Benton-Harris visited House's family home in the 8000 block of South South Shore Drive sometime after midnight, prosecutors said.
House lived with her 5-month-old daughter, her mother and her four younger siblings, according to Walters. A 29-year-old family friend was visiting that evening, prosecutors said, and the entire family disliked Benton-Harris for how he treated House.
House's younger brother, 16-year-old Elijah Harris, got into an argument with Benton-Harris that soon escalated into a physical fight, Walters said. Benton-Harris left the home and returned a short while later with a gun.
That's when he gunned down Elijah in front of the boy's 42-year-old mother, prosecutors said.
As the mother tried to run away, Walters said, Benton-Harris fired multiple shots — striking the woman in her back. She collapsed on the ground, prosecutors said, and Benton-Harris proceeded to shoot Emoni House, killing her and the couple's unborn child.
By that point, the 42-year-old mother had begun crawling away despite her injuries, prosecutors said. Benton-Harris allegedly shot the woman once more, and she played dead for the remainder of the attack. In all, the woman was shot five times in her back, buttocks, left thigh and right breast, and survived.
Benton-Harris then turned his attention toward the family's 29-year-old friend, who tried to hide in a bathroom, Walters said. The woman was shot in her neck, back and leg, and survived.
Benton-Harris left alone his 5-month-old daughter and the other children in the house, according to prosecutors. He then fled and was arrested following a routine traffic stop Wednesday.
According to an arrest report, police pulled over a car in which Benton-Harris was the passenger because he and the driver were not wearing seatbelts. Benton-Harris gave officers a fake name, Walters said, and the men were soon allowed to leave.
But as the driver pulled away near 63rd and California, police said, he cut off traffic and began driving erratically. Officers followed the car until it stopped a few blocks away, according to the arrest report, and the men stepped out of the car.
Benton-Harris looked toward police with his hands in his pockets, officers said. When they asked him to show his hands, Benton-Harris replied, "F--- no," and took off running, according to the arrest report.
Since officers believed Benton-Harris was armed, they chased him and used a Taser on the man, court records show. Benton-Harris was arrested about 11 p.m. Wednesday in the 6500 block of South Whipple Street. He was carrying six bags of marijuana but no weapon.
Police soon learned Benton-Harris' true identity; he was wanted on an arrest warrant for the murders of Emoni and Elijah House, court records show.
Emoni House, who was four months pregnant, had been fatally shot in her right flank, right breast and mouth, prosecutors said. Elijah, meanwhile, was fatally shot in his back.
Benton-Harris — who is currently homeless, according to court testimony — is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, resisting police, obstructing identification, possession of marijuana, reckless conduct, aggravated battery by discharging a firearm and intentional homicide of an unborn child.
As a juvenile, Benton-Harris was previously found guilty of retail theft, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. As an adult, he has a pending case for trespassing.
Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas on Friday denied Benton-Harris bail.
If convicted, he could face a life sentence.
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