Prosecutors on Thursday approved attempted murder and other charges against a Far South Side man in connection with the April 6 shooting that left 22-month-old Kayden Swann critically wounded during a road rage incident on Lake Shore Drive, police said.
Deandre Binion, 25, is charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder and felony aggravated battery by discharge of a firearm, according to a CPD media release. He is scheduled to appear in bond court Friday.
Police arrested Binion this week after he was identified as the person who fired shots into the car Kayden was riding in shortly after 11 a.m. on April 6, the media statement said.
One of the rounds struck Kayden in the right temple, resulting in a brain injury that left the boy intubated and medically sedated. Kayden this week moved out of the pediatric intensive care unit at Lurie Children’s Hospital and is said to be on a “positive trajectory,” ABC7 reported.
Kayden’s grandmother was in the front seat of their car, driven by 43-year-old Jushawn Brown, her then-boyfriend, when the road rage incident unfolded on northbound Lake Shore Drive near Soldier Field, according to a CPD report.
Cops said they found a gun in Brown’s pants pocket after he arrived at Northwestern Memorial Hospital with Kayden and the grandmother following the shooting. Prosecutors charged him with unlawful use of a weapon on April 8.
According to prosecutors, Brown exchanged words with another driver in a dispute over a lane change, and the other driver pointed a gun at Brown. At that point, Brown took out his own gun and placed it on his lap while driving, an assistant state’s attorney said.
As Brown sped away, the other driver fired shots at his car. One of the bullets went through its back window and struck Kayden. Brown crashed into another car at Monroe Street, and a passing motorist took Kayden, Brown, and the grandmother to Northwestern.
While police were speaking with the grandmother at the hospital, she told officers that Brown was carrying a firearm, according to a CPD report. When cops asked Brown if he had anything he shouldn’t have, he allegedly admitted to having his “protection.”
A loaded 9-millimeter handgun was found in his pants pocket, according to prosecutors. He is not charged with firing any shots during the altercation.
CWBChicago will file an updated story after Binion appears in bond court Friday.