A 12-year-old boy cried out for his mother when a man fatally shot him because the boy made fun of him for FaceTiming with a girlfriend, prosecutors said.
The attack, which happened while the boy played a video game, was witnessed by several siblings who jumped into action to try to revive him, said prosecutors during a hearing for the suspect, Jaran Hughes.
Hughes, 21, was denied bail by Cook County Judge Charles Beach at the hearing, which was broadcast live on YouTube on Wednesday.
Hughes is charged with murder in the death of Marcel Wilson, 12, who was fatally shot Jan. 2 in the 5500 block of South Aberdeen Street, Chicago police said.
On the evening of the attack, Hughes was in a bedroom on FaceTime with his girlfriend. While on the call, she saw Hughes with a black semi-automatic firearm with an extended magazine, a Cook County prosecutor said during the hearing.
Meanwhile, Marcel, who was in the same bedroom with siblings, was playing a video game.
After Marcel teased Hughes for being on the call with his girlfriend, Hughes pointed the gun at Marcel, the prosecutor said.
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Marcel and his 13-year-old sister repeatedly asked Hughes to put the weapon away.
Instead, he fired the gun and shot Marcel in the chest, according to the prosecutor.
According to the prosecutor, as Marcel gripped his chest, he called out for his mom and ran toward her room, but collapsed before making it there. “He shot me, he shot me,” shouted Marcel.
After he fell, the eldest brother applied pressure while his 13-year-old sister watched the entire scene unfold, the prosecutor said. Another witness was also in the home.
In the midst of Marcel’s siblings trying to revive the boy, Hughes was spotted quickly picking up shell casings of a 9 mm handgun before fleeing, leaving his phone, jacket and one shoe behind.
Marcel was pronounced dead at 11:55 p.m. that night, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He died of a gunshot wound to the chest and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Search warrants were executed on two different Facebook accounts that belonged to the girlfriend, which showed an exchange where Hughes wrote, “My life is over. I’m going to be in jail,” the prosecutor said.
Before denying bail, Judge Beach spoke to Hughes.
“I would hate to say you teased him back by pointing a gun because it was much more serious than that,” the judge said. “You racked the slide of the weapon, expressing (violent) intent and discharged.”
Hughes was arrested Tuesday in Racine, Wisconsin, where he was staying with cousins, according to the prosecutor.
Hughes will return to court on Feb. 22.