A Cook County judge has ordered the pretrial detention of a Chicago man charged in connection with the death of the 2-year-old boy who fatally shot himself on the city’s Far South Side over the weekend.
Johnny Hughes, 31, has been charged with child endangerment resulting in death, possession of a firearm by a repeat felon and aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon, Cook County Circuit Court records show. Hughes made his initial court appearance late Tuesday morning.
Chicago police officers responded to a call of a person shot at an apartment in the 900 block of East 104th Street in the Pullman neighborhood early Sunday afternoon, according to an arrest report included in court filings. When officers arrived, they found a 2-year-old lying on the ground, unresponsive with a single gunshot to his head, the report stated. Hughes is identified in the arrest report as the boyfriend of the toddler’s mother.
The toddler, identified as Jamonte Shaw, was transported to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Jamonte’s cause of death was pending the results of a police investigation as of Tuesday afternoon, the medical examiner’s office said.
Before Judge Ankur Srivastava at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Cook County prosecutors on Tuesday stated Hughes had been living in an apartment with Jamonte and his mother alongside two siblings, a 4-month-old and a 9-year-old.
At the time of the shooting, Jamonte’s mother was in the kitchen with the 9-year-old while the 4-month-old was with Hughes, who was sleeping on the couch in the living room, prosecutors said.
Jamonte accessed Hughes’ 9 mm firearm, which had been left inside the apartment, prosecutors said. Jamonte shot himself with the gun in the living room. When Jamonte’s mother heard the gunshot, she went to the living room and saw her 2-year-old injured with the gun next to him, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors further allege that at some point before officers arrived, the gun was moved from the living room to a closet.
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The arrest report relays that an officer asked Hughes “where the firearm was located.” The officer then followed Hughes into a back bedroom, where Hughes uncovered a loaded semiautomatic Taurus G3 with a laser attachment folded between two layers of clothing on the top shelf of a closet, the report states.
When an officer asked Hughes how he got the firearm, he replied, “We purchased it,” the report states. Hughes was also asked if he had a concealed carry license and a firearm owner’s identification card, to which he told officers no.
At the scene, Hughes told Jamonte’s mother that Jamonte had shot himself and that he was sorry, according to prosecutors. Hughes made additional statements to police that he had been drinking the night before, prosecutors stated, and that the gun had been wrapped in clothing and placed on the closet floor. He also told police he believed Jamonte was looking for juice when he found the gun, as juice was also stored in the closet, prosecutors said.
A felony complaint filed Tuesday alleges Hughes “knowingly caused the life of a child under the age of 18 to be endangered in that he intentionally placed a loaded 9MM firearm unattended” and in the reach of the toddler, causing his death.
Cook County court records show Hughes pleaded guilty in 2021 to a charge of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and was sentenced to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Records also show that Hughes had been arrested earlier this month for possession of a controlled substance and two traffic violations and that at the time, there had been an outstanding warrant for his arrest out of DuPage County in connection to misdemeanor theft charges dating back to 2020.
Hughes’ next court appearance is scheduled for June 17.