#10: Man, on bail for gun case, is charged with attempted murder for shooting at carjacking victims

A Chicago man is charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting at two victims during an armed carjacking Sunday while he was on affordable bail for a pending felony gun case. Dakari Davis is the 10th person charged with killing or trying to kill someone in Chicago this year while on bail for other serious felonies.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday, the victim and a friend were sitting in a car on the 3800 block of West 13th Street when a Jeep pulled up next to them and two men — identified by prosecutors as Davis and Ladon Braxton — got out.

Braxton pointed a gun at one of the victims and told him to open the door while pulling on the handle, Assistant State’s Attorney Andrea Williams said.

The victim tried to drive away but struck a passing car as he did.

Williams said the driver of the other car got out, saw Braxton holding the gun and then ran back to her vehicle. As she did, the driver of the first car sped away and Davis fired two rounds at the fleeing car, according to Williams.

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One round struck the passenger-side window, she said. The woman who was driving the other car got out and ran for safety, leaving her vehicle unattended.

Davis and Braxton, both 20, got into her car and drove away, prosecutors said. Police radioed a description of the car and the suspects to other officers and cops spotted her vehicle in traffic nearby.

Davis, who was allegedly driving the stolen car, sped through a stop sign and crashed as cops tried to pull him over. Both men ran from the wrecked car, prosecutors said. Davis was arrested nearby. Police chased Braxton and allegedly saw him ditch a handgun as he ran. Cops caught him a few minutes later and recovered the gun he’s accused of throwing. It had a defaced serial number.

Crime lab technicians determined that two shell casings at the attempted carjacking scene were fired by the gun Braxton discarded, prosecutors said.

Braxton is also accused of carrying the female victim’s phone and $5,806 cash that she had in her car when she ran for cover after the shooting.

Davis, who posted $200 to get out of jail for a pending gun charge in September 2019, is charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, attempted vehicular hijacking, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, and traffic violations. He also has a 2017 juvenile conviction for unlawful use of a weapon.

Braxton has no criminal record. Prosecutors charged him with the same counts as Davis, without the traffic violations.

“Sometimes when you enter the criminal justice system, you don’t start with a single, you hit a grand slam,” Judge Lyke said after hearing the state’s allegations. “In my humble opinion, Mr. Braxton hit a grand slam here.”

Lyke ordered both men held without bail. Davis was also held without bail for violating the terms of release in his pending gun case.

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