April 29--A man awaiting trial for murder last year has been charged in a second fatal shooting that left a 7-year-old boy dead and a woman injured on July 4 on the West Side, according to prosecutors and court records.
Jamal Joiner, 20, of the 6000 Block of South Eberhart Avenue appeared before Judge Peggy Chiampas at the Leighton Criminal Court Building Thursday where he was ordered held without bail, according to court records.
Joiner is charged with the July 4 slaying of Amari Brown and the wounding of a 27-year-old woman on the 1100 block of North Harding Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
The boy had just returned from seeing fireworks with his family and had spent the day with his grandmother when he was shot at about 11:52 p.m., prosecutors said.
Along with Joiner, Rasheed Martin, 20, was charged with murder in July when he was also ordered held without bail. He is in Cook County jail awaiting trial.
On Thursday, Prosecutors said Joiner and Martin are members of the Black Flag faction of the Four Corner Hustler gang and had been feuding with another faction of the gang. The ongoing feud had led to shootings on April 17, 2015, May 23 and earlier in the day on July 4 that happened on Harding and Thomas Avenues, prosecutors said.
At 11:52 on July 4 holiday, the boy and the woman were on the sidewalk on Harding near other people with whom the two men had been feuding, according to prosecutors. The boy and his family had just returned from watching fireworks.
At that point, witnesses described Joiner, Martin and at least two other people walking with guns and getting to the intersection of Thomas and Harding and firing at the people on the sidewalk. The boy was fatally shot in the chest and the woman was shot twice in the chest but survived, according to prosecutors.
After the shooting the men fled.
A warrant was issued for Martin on July 17 charging him with first-degree murder in Amari's fatal shooting. Martin was arrested days later at a home in Superior, Wis., and had been held in the Douglas County Jail while awaiting extradition.
Joiner admitted to the shooting to a third party and said he and Martin fired because they had been shot at earlier in the day.
A law enforcement source familiar with the case said earlier that Martin may have been involved in an earlier dispute with the boy's father, Antonio Brown. Police say Brown is a ranking Four Corner Hustlers gang member.
Amari was one of three people killed and 27 wounded in over an eight-hour stretch that night. The Fourth of July weekend left 10 people dead and 55 wounded in the city.
Joiner is also awaiting trial for first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from the April 17 fatal shooting of Courtney Jackson, 36, of the 1400 block of North Lotus Avenue, according to court records.
According to prosecutors in the earlier slaying, a friend of Joiner's was involved in a fistfight with Jackson, who was with another man the morning of April 17. The 35-year-old friend of Jackson's punched Joiner's friend, knocking out a tooth, prosecutors said.
After the fight, Jackson and the other man fled, prosecutors said.
Later that day, about 10:50 p.m. on the 1100 block of North Springfield Avenue 12 people were gathered along with Joiner and the friend who had his tooth knocked out, prosecutors said.
A vehicle driven by Jackson's friend pulled up to the group with Jackson in the front passenger's seat, according to prosecutors.
As the vehicle stopped, Joiner allegedly walked up to the driver's-side window, pulled out a handgun and fired into the vehicle, prosecutors said. The bullet passed through the neck of the driver and then struck Jackson in the side as he sat in the vehicle, prosecutors said.
Jackson was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he later died. The 35-year-old driver survived the shooting.
