Inside the white stone funeral home, in Chapel B, a steady stream of mourners Tuesday filed past the remains of Robert “Yummy” Sandifer.
The wake was marked by tears and underscored by dozens of children who came with their parents or in groups to get a glimpse of the slain 11-year-old who was himself accused of murder.
It was also a time of contemplation. And for trying to teach lessons.
Melissa Mann brought her 6-year-old son, TiAndre. She hoped TiAndre would be deterred from the lure of the streets by the sight of a boy not much older than him lying in a coffin, allegedly murdered by members of his own gang.
“I came to bring my son,” Mann said, as TiAndre stood inches away. “As far as stopping the killings, I don’t think it will make a difference. These gangs are really winning these kids.”
But in a world where urban peril has become incomprehensible for adults, the lesson was simple for TiAndre.
“That’s what he gets because he killed that girl,” Mann said her son told her while standing next to Robert’s coffin. His comment, she said, left her speechless.
Last week, police said, Robert fired the shot that killed 14-year-old Shavon Dean, who lived less than a block from him in the South Side Roseland neighborhood, where gang wars have escalated in recent years. Then less than a week later, after an intense police manhunt for Robert, he was found murdered, his body lying in the mouth of a pedestrian walkway at 108th Street and Dauphin Avenue.
Earlier Tuesday, an attorney for one of the two brothers charged with Robert’s murder denied that the 16-year-old was involved in the killing.
Cragg Hardaway, 16, and Derrick Hardaway, 14, of 126 E. 105th St., were charged last week with first-degree murder in the execution-style killing. Cragg, the alleged triggerman, is charged as an adult and is being held on $5 million bond. Derrick is named in a juvenile petition.
Cragg’s attorney, George Howard, said in court that his client was beaten while in police custody and that the bond was excessive.
Howard said that Cragg claimed police “kicked him and beat him” in the groin area after being picked up last Thursday for questioning-though Howard said there were no outward signs of abuse.
Pullman Area police, who arrested the youths, declined to comment on the allegation of abuse, though one officer said that “everybody we pick up claims to have been beaten by police.”
Chicago police said that neither Howard nor Cragg had filed an official complaint with the department’s Office of Professional Standards, which handles complaints of police misconduct.
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Police contend that the Hardaway brothers killed Robert, on orders from higher-ranking gang members, who feared he might implicate them once he was in police custody.
Cragg appeared briefly Tuesday before Cook County Cricuit Judge Robert Bastone. The judge granted a prosecution request for a continuance on the preliminary hearing, which was rescheduled for Sept. 26.
Derrick is scheduled to appear in Cook County Juvenile Court on the same day, when Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Sumner will announce whether he will be tried as an adult or juvenile for the Sandifer murder.
Cragg-dressed in a blue and red striped T-shirt and blue pants-looked tired and disheveled during his five-minute court appearance before Bastone. Cragg spoke only once, replying “Yes,” when Bastone asked him whether he understood the murder charge against him.
The boys’ parents, Cragg Hardaway Sr. and his wife, Ernestine, an older sister and several relatives quietly watched the proceedings from the court gallery Tuesday.
After the hearing, the sister maintained that her brother Cragg is innocent.
“He’s signed no confession. He’s made no admission of any guilt,” said Katrice Hardaway, 21, who said that her family feared retribution by unnamed gang members.
Authorities refused comment on whether they were nearing an arrest for suspects who might have ordered Robert’s execution.
Despite Robert’s troubled life, which officials said amounted to no fewer than 23 felony and five misdemeanor charges, there was great compassion for a little boy caught in a downward spiral of crime, and, eventually, death.
“I think it was a shame because that little boy shouldn’t have died like that,” said Lisa Winters, 14, who didn’t know Robert, but came to view the body. “You can’t help but feel sorry for him.”
“You can’t put that fault on a child,” said Roland Sanders, a neighborhood resident who also didn’t know Robert. “He just thought that was a way of life. He was only 11 years old.”
Sanders said he planned to bring his children back to the funeral home to let them know “you’re not too young to die,” he said.
The wake, in fact, seemed not as much for the dead as for the living. Only five days earlier, Shavon Dean lay inside the same chapel at Gatling’s Funeral Chapel, 10133 S. Halsted St., garbed in a soft white dress.
Dressed in a dark tan suit, brown shirt and tie, his collar draped with a gold chain, Robert looked at peace with himself. His finger-waved hair was pressed to his head. He lay in a child-sized coffin, suitable for a boy who was small in stature but one who accumulated man-size problems.
“I wanted to see how he looked and stuff,” said Amanda Henderson, 15. “It’s just sad-all these little kids dying. I came up here for Shavon’s funeral too. It’s messed up.”
Outside the funeral home, children and adults lingered, pondering the tragic fate of the youth nicknamed for his love of cookies.
After the visitation, Robert’s family and friends gathered about 8 p.m. outside the family’s house in the 200 block of West 108th Place. About three dozen adults and children held up red, white and green candles in the front yard, where the porch was adorned with about a dozen helium balloons.
A white poster inscribed “I love you Yummy” and signed by scores of loved ones, neighbors and even strangers was placed near the front gate.
The porch was laden with flowers. Candles shaped in the letter “Y” poked through the lawn. A bright orange basketball, a present from his grandmother, nestled in one corner of the porch.
Many of those carrying candles in memory of the slain boy were children.
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“We love you, Yummy,” the solemn crowd said over and over.
An aunt overcome with emotion had to be carried inside the house. Some neighbors watched the ceremony from across the street while the lights drew others to the candlelight vigil.
“This is a very sad moment,” said Jannie Fields, Yummy’s grandmother, as she began lighting candles. “Light the candles at the feet of my grandson. This light is lit for Robert. Yummy, we love you. We will always love you. You are still my angel.”
A neighborhood minister gave spiritual counseling and prayed for an end to the violence that plagues the South Side neighborhood.
“We stand apart, but we cannot make it by ourselves,” said Oscar Stanton, a neighborhood minister. “At times like these the best advice I can tell you is, `You need the Lord.’ “
During an appearance on the Northwest Side Tuesday, Mayor Richard Daley said there should be some sort of lockdown facility for those accused of violent crimes under the age of 13, rather than shipping them out of state.
“I think there should be a facility because it also protects society,” he said.
Daley agreed with the weekend call by Joe Morris, Republican candidate for Cook County Board president, to at least triple the size of the county’s current juvenile facilities. But Daley did not agree with Morris’ suggestion that part of the county hospital be transformed into a juvenile lockup.
Without going into specifics, Daley encouraged the state to make a law holding parents more accountable for their children.
“Children should be nurtured, and cared for, and educated,” Daley said. “It’s the parents who are abandoning them. . . . A child has rights.”
Services for Robert will be held at noon Wednesday at the Youth Center Church of God in Christ, 3679 W. Grand Ave.