July 30--Bail was denied for a 20-year-old man who was extradited from Wisconsin to Chicago after allegedly fatally shooting 7-year-old Amari Brown during a Fourth of July attack on the West Side.
Rasheed Martin appeared Wednesday afternoon before Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
A warrant had been 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.
Chicago police say Martin went to the 1100 block of North Harding Avenue about 11:55 p.m. on the Fourth of July and opened fire at a group of people, killing Amari and wounding a 26-year-old woman. Amari was with his father in the Humboldt Park neighborhood after spending the day at his grandmother's house, according to his family.
A law enforcement source familiar with the case said 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.
Martin's defense attorney, a public defender, said Martin is a lifelong resident of the city. Martin is unemployed and does not have any money, according to his lawyer.
Martin had his hands clasped behind his back and looked out into the visitors gallery as he was led before the judge. Two deputies stood by him during the hearing.
Asstistant Cook County State's Attorney Jennifer Cooper said Martin and his friends were involved in "ongoing" disputes with several other individuals from the area, including disputes that escalated with both groups shooting at each other April 17, May 23 and earlier in the day on July 4.
Cooper said on July 4, the boy had just returned from watching the holiday fireworks with his family and was standing near the other two victims -- a man and a woman -- when Martin and at least one other uncharged co-defendant armed with loaded guns began firing in the direction of the victims.
The boy was struck in the chest, and the 27-year-old woman was struck twice in the chest, Cooper said. Martin fled with at least one other other uncharged co-defendant. According to prosecutors, Martin implicated himself and the other uncharged co-defendants in a video statement to police.
Witnesses saw Martin and the uncharged co-offender fire their guns, according to Cooper.
The judge, after saying "it was a shooting on a public street" and a "child has died," and the defendant is a "danger to himself and society," denied bail.
Cooper said this was Martin's first adult felony arrest and said he has a juvenile background including a 2014 reckless conduct and a 2010 drug possession conviction.
After the hearing, a group of men and women including Amari's relatives declined to comment as they walked out of the courthouse.
Martin's last known address was the 900 block of North Monticello Avenue, near where the shooting occurred, according to Cook County court records.
It was not known what ties Martin has to Superior, but he also has a pending misdemeanor theft case in Douglas County from last winter, according to court records. He was arrested March 19 on two charges of retail theft of items worth less than $500 and was wanted on a warrant in that case.
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.
Martin is slated to appear in court Aug. 18.
Chicago Tribune's Jeremy Gorner contributed.
