A 21-year-old man has been charged with murder after 13-month-old Dillan Harris was run down by a vehicle fleeing a deadly gang shooting Saturday afternoon in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side.
Marvin Watkins | Chicago Police
Antoine Watkins faces one count of murder with a strong probability of death or injury, a felony, according to Chicago Police.
Watkins, of the 8100 block of South Bennett, was arrested in connection with Dillan's death after police saw him driving a car matching the description of the vehicle that fatally struck the boy about 1:45 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.
Dillan’s mother had been standing on the sidewalk, waiting at a bus stop at 63rd and Ellis with her three kids—Dillan, who was in a stroller, and his two older sisters. On a warm day, they were headed for a family outing at 63rd Street Beach.
That’s when the westbound car, which Chicago Police said was fleeing a fatal shooting in the 7700 block of South Kingston that claimed the life of 22-year-old Marvin “Capo” Carr, raced up.
“All of a sudden, they swerved and hit a pole and hit my baby,” said the mother, who declined to give her name.
She said she tried to push all of her kids out of the way but didn’t have enough time to get the 13-month-old clear of the danger.
Dillan was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:45 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy Sunday ruled his death an accident.
Watkins sped away in the vehicle but was later taken into custody, police said. He was also charged with one misdemeanor count of fleeing or attempting to elude police, and cited for failure to carry or display a driver’s license and operating a vehicle without insurance.
Watkins was scheduled to appear in bond court Monday.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire and Chicago Sun-Times