A young activist was killed earlier this summer when his friend accidentally shot him while firing a gun at a vehicle in West Rogers Park, Cook County prosecutors said Tuesday.
Genove Martin was allegedly shooting at a gray Chevrolet Malibu when he fired “a final shot” that struck his friend, 17-year-old Caleb Reed, in the forehead shortly before 1 p.m. July 31 in the in the 1900 block of West Granville Avenue.
Reed, who was involved with the anti-violence group Good Kids Mad City and VOYCE, a group opposed to police officers being stationed in city schools, was pronounced dead at a hospital two days later.
Martin, 18, was charged with first-degree murder, but Judge John F. Lyke said he did not believe prosecutors presented enough evidence during Martin’s bond hearing Tuesday to likely obtain a conviction on that charge.
Lyke called the shooting “a tragedy on so many levels” and described the accusations against Martin “serious” before ordering the teenager held on $300,000 bail.
“He was on his way to college ... which if he made it there could have changed his life,” the judge said of Martin, who had planned to start college in the fall, according to an assistant public defender.
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Surveillance video of the shooting showed Martin, Reed and two other friends walking in the block when the Malibu drove slowly past them and then stopped about two houses away, prosecutors said.
The video then shows Martin pulling out a handgun before firing at the vehicle, then turning to run and firing behind him, striking Reed, prosecutors said.
At least one person in the Malibu returned fire, but the gunshots did not come until after Reed was hit and collapsed to the ground, prosecutors said.
