CHICAGO — Prosecutors have charged a 20-year-old man with multiple counts of murder, saying he was the driver of gunmen who opened fire on another vehicle, killing three people and injuring three more on a Chicago expressway last year.
The shooters killed 1-year-old A-mara Hall, William Smith, 13, and 19-year-old Nasir Hall. Injured were the 29-year-old female driver and two boys, ages 14 and 16.
An Illinois State Police report said the victims were heading north on Interstate 57 near 116th Street in an SUV when dozens of shots were fired at them from another vehicle around 10:24 p.m. on February 19, 2023.
Troopers found 36 shell casings on the highway, some from a 9-millimeter and others from a .223 rifle, the report said. There were 25 bullet holes in the victims’ SUV.
Smith and Nasir Hall were found deceased in the back seat and A-mara died at the hospital, according to ISP. The driver sustained a gunshot wound to her buttocks, the 14-year-old sustained a gunshot wound to his left shoulder, and the 16-year-old sustained a graze wound to his back.
ISP investigators detained Sean Richardson, 20, and another suspect last year, but they were both released pending further investigation after providing DNA samples, according to the report.
Those DNA test results, along with cellular data and video implicate Richardson as the driver, officials said this week. One of the survivors also identified him as the driver of the vehicle from which the shots were fired.
Judge Susana Ortiz detained Richardson pending trial on three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder.
When police tried to arrest Richardson this week, he crashed a stolen vehicle and ran away with a gun in his hand, according to allegations filed in a separate report. Officers arrested him in a nearby yard and recovered a loaded .40-caliber handgun with an extended magazine from the yard, according to the report.
He is charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass to a vehicle and obstructing identification in that case.
Ortiz ordered him detained on those charges, too.
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