By STEFANO ESPOSITO
Chicago Sun-Times
Corey Morgan | Cook County sheriff's office
A man has been charged with the murder of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
Two other gang members are also involved with the murder, Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said at a news conference.
Corey Morgan was charged with first-degree murder for the Nov. 2 shooting, according to Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. He was expected to appear in bond court Saturday.
The arrest was announced on Twitter early Friday by Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
Police were able to narrow in on the suspects with “forensic evidence and community involvement,” McCarthy said.
“We got an awful lot of intelligence from the community,” he said. “This was very clearly not a case of ‘no-snitching’ but there was a lot of fear.”
Kevin Edwards | Chicago Police
When asked if Tyshawn’s dad was helpful in the investigation, the top cop said, “Not at all. Not at all.”
There are two other people involved in the murder, McCarthy said. But he would not say who pulled the trigger.
One man is already in custody on an unrelated gun charge, but his name was not disclosed. Authorities have also issued a first-degree murder warrant for 22-year-old Kevin Edwards of Chicago, McCarthy said.
All three men are members of the same gang, McCarthy said.
“That gang just signed its own death warrant,” he said.
About 4 p.m. on Nov. 2, Tyshawn was lured into an alley in the 8000 block of South Damen and executed in retaliation against the boy’s father, authorities say.
Police believe Tyshawn was killed in retaliation for the Oct. 13 murder of Tracey Morgan, 25, who is the brother of Corey Morgan, records show.
Tyshawn was shot in the right temple and the bullet went through his left temple, according to a Nov. 3 autopsy report reviewed by the Sun-Times. He was also grazed in the back, right forearm and right hand.
Gunpowder residue was found on the left side of Tyshawn’s face, revealing that the shooter likely missed a shot. That bullet likely either grazed his back or struck his right thumb. There were no gunshot wounds on the left side of his face, the report said.
Tyshawn Lee
Seven .40-caliber bullet casings were found at the murder scene.
Tyshawn, who was just 83 pounds and 56 inches tall, wore black jeans, plaid boxers, an orange Polo shirt and a dark jacket with yellow lining on his final day of life. He had an iPhone charger and a watch on him when he died, but no phone, the report said.
On Nov. 17, police arrested Morgan, a person of interest in the slaying of the fourth grader. Morgan, 27, whose address was listed as in the 7800 block of South Hoyne, was arrested after he left a Hilton hotel near 95th Street in Oak Lawn, authorities say. He was later charged with possession of a firearm by a felon.
Arrested with him was Dwight Boone-Doty, 21, of the 7300 block of South Vernon.
They were stopped in a car on 87th Street in nearby Evergreen Park.
Police allegedly recovered two handguns from the men. They both were ordered held on $1 million bail to the sounds of gasps in the courtroom. Morgan was later released after posting his $100,000 bond.
Police ran tests on two .40-caliber pistols they found when they searched a car in which Corey Morgan and Dwight Boone-Doty were driving in Evergreen Park.
Police say they saw a pistol tucked in Boone-Doty’s waistband as he and Morgan got into the car and left a Hilton Hotel in south suburban Oak Lawn. Police pulled the men over a few blocks away in Evergreen Park, and found Boone-Doty with one pistol still tucked in his waistband, and the second gun in a duffel bag Morgan was seen carrying outside the hotel.
Morgan has been barred from owning a firearm after he was convicted of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Boone-Doty is on parole for a drug and weapons case from downstate Sangamon County.