A person who prosecutors mentioned “went looking” for a sufferer earlier than gunning down a 9-year-old boy on the Close to North Facet 5 years in the past has been sentenced to 25 years in jail.
Darrell Johnson, 44, pleaded responsible Thursday to at least one depend of homicide in change for the sentence from Decide Peggy Chiampias. By regulation, Johnson should serve all the sentence, although the 5 years he has already spent in custody will likely be credited.
At about 6:30 p.m. on July 31, 2020, 9-year-old Janari Ricks was within the 500 block of West Locust Road, shaking palms with a neighbor believed to be Johnson’s supposed goal, when Johnson started capturing, prosecutors mentioned. Surveillance video allegedly confirmed Johnson strolling down an alley, peering by a fence, after which firing six photographs.
Different cameras recorded Janari working earlier than collapsing from his accidents. He died shortly afterward.
Throughout a press convention after the killing, Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (twenty seventh) mentioned the households concerned had “identified one another for over 50 years.”
Many witnesses recognized Johnson, together with some who seen the gunman limping away from the scene. Prosecutors mentioned Johnson walks with a limp because of a gunshot wound that he acquired years in the past. Prosecutors mentioned he fled in his girlfriend’s Nissan Altima. Police arrested him as he stepped into the identical automotive on the South Facet two days after the homicide.
Court docket information present Johnson had a historical past of violent crime. He was convicted of aggravated battery inflicting nice bodily hurt in 2002 and of vehicular hijacking and a gun offense in 2005.
Tim Hecke is CWBChicago’s managing associate. He began his profession at KMOX, the legendary information radio station in St. Louis. From there, he moved on to work at stations in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York Metropolis. Tim went on to construct syndicated radio information and content material providers that served each one among America’s 100 largest radio markets. He grew to become CWBChicago’s managing associate in 2019.
His e mail deal with is tim@cwbchicago.com
