A man who prosecutors said “went hunting” for a victim before gunning down a 9-year-old boy on the Near North Side five years ago has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Darrell Johnson, 44, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of murder in exchange for the sentence from Judge Peggy Chiampias. By law, Johnson must serve the entire sentence, though the five years he has already spent in custody will be credited.
At about 6:30 p.m. on July 31, 2020, 9-year-old Janari Ricks was in the 500 block of West Locust Street, shaking hands with a neighbor believed to be Johnson’s intended target, when Johnson began shooting, prosecutors said. Surveillance video allegedly showed Johnson walking down an alley, peering through a fence, and then firing six shots.
Other cameras recorded Janari running before collapsing from his injuries. He died shortly afterward.
During a press conference after the killing, Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) said the families involved had “known each other for over 50 years.”
Many witnesses identified Johnson, including some who noticed the gunman limping away from the scene. Prosecutors said Johnson walks with a limp due to a gunshot wound that he received years ago. Prosecutors said he fled in his girlfriend’s Nissan Altima. Police arrested him as he stepped into the same car on the South Side two days after the murder.
Court records show Johnson had a history of violent crime. He was convicted of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in 2002 and of vehicular hijacking and a gun offense in 2005.
