Tuesday, July 23, 2013

3 teens charged with shooting girl, 6

3 teens charged with shooting girl, 6


Quianna Tompkins, age 6
Quianna Tompkins, 6, was shot along with a 52-year-old woman in the Fernwood neighborhood Friday night. (Family photo via WGN-TV / July 18, 2013)
Three teenage boys have been charged with the shooting of a 6-year-old girl while she was riding a scooter on the Far South Side last week.
Landon Barker, 16, of an undisclosed address, was charged in the attack that left a girl family members identify as Quianna Tomplins wounded, police said in a release Tuesday evening. Terrence Lynom, 16, of the 1800 block of North Luna Avenue, and Angelo Clark, of the 12100 block of South Lafayette Avenue, were charged this morning with first-degree attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, Cook County state's attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton had said earlier Tuesday. Police gave Clark's age as 15, while prosecutors said he was 17.
The shooting started about 8 p.m. Friday during a barbecue in the 300 block of West 105th Street in an area neighbors have nicknamed “Trouble City.”  A young man spotted two others and started shooting, and the two returned fire.

Quianna was struck in the chest and a woman in her 50s was shot in the thigh. Quianna remains in critical condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. The woman was treated and released from the hospital, spokesman Mike Maggio.
Chicago Police said the barbecue was part of an annual memorial for Brandon Snype, a man who was shot to death on the same street five years ago.
Over the weekend, the girl's mother made an emotional plea to those responsible for the shooting.
“I know you didn’t mean to do it on purpose, but please don’t go through life with this guilt on your heart,” Juannakee Kennedy said. “We forgive you, we just want some justice for our baby.”

Quianna turned 6 just two weeks ago and is preparing to start the first grade.

“She was just outside playing with her friends, the kids can’t go play outside,” Kennedy said.

Vanessa Ross said she was hosting a memorial for her son who was shot and killed five years ago while sitting in a porch on the same block. "At first we thought it was firecrackers," she said. "When we realized it was gunfire, everybody started getting up, running into my house."
Quianna collapsed on the stairs at Ross' home, she said. "These guys came out of nowhere," Ross said. "They was just shooting anywhere and everywhere."

Ross grabbed a sheet to keep the girl warm while a relative put pressure on the girl's chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding, Ross said.

"I'm like, okay, they done shot this little girl," Ross said. "That just blew me away."

rsobol@tribune.com | Twitter: @RosemarySobol1

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