The police in Chicago said Friday that they had made an arrest into the murder of a 9-year-old boy, who was shot to death after being lured into an alley early this month, one of the most notorious crimes in the city's recent history.
The suspect, Corey Morgan, 27, has been charged with first-degree murder, said Garry F. McCarthy, the police superintendent. He described Morgan was one of three men involved in "a crime that shook our city."
One of the other two men is in police custody on an unrelated gun charge, McCarthy said, while a third, Kevin Edwards, is on the run and being sought by the police on a first-degree murder warrant in the death of the child, Tyshawn Lee.
McCarthy said the three men were all members of a gang. Each played a role in what he called an "unfathomable crime" that was carried out to get back at the Tyshawn's father, although he did not say specifically why. A series of events led up to Tyshawn's killing, McCarthy said, including at least two other murders and a number of other shootings.
The killing took place Nov. 2. in the city's South Side neighborhood. Tyshawn was playing basketball in a playground with friends when at least one of the suspects showed up, struck up a conversation with the boy and others, and then lured him to an alley nearby. McCarthy said that the police still needed to work out details of what happened next, such as who pulled the trigger and who drove the getaway car. They have not yet recovered the gun used in the killing.
The boy was shot several times in his upper body.
Initially, the police were trying to figure out whether Tyshawn was just a bystander who was shot accidentally or whether he was the target.
A report in The Chicago Tribune said the police questioned Morgan two days after Tyshawn's killing but released him. Two weeks later, he was arrested and charged on an unrelated weapons violation, but he was released after posting bond.
McCarthy said Friday that Morgan was a convicted felon who had early on been identified as a person of interest. He said Morgan appeared before the police accompanied by a lawyer recently, but the police were unable to arrest him for Tyshawn's murder then, the police superintendent said.
But over time, McCarthy said, forensic evidence, witness identification and information developed from community members helped lead the police to the suspects.
Earlier this month, McCarthy said Tyshawn had been targeted because his father was connected to one of the gangs. On Friday he said the father was not helping the police in the investigation.
The father, Pierre Stokes, has said that his son's death had nothing to do with him. No one had a motive to harm him, he said, and if anyone did, he would be easy enough to find.
McCarthy also said Friday that the gangs involved with the killing had signed their own "death warrant." He said the department was going to assign resources to ensure neither one of the gangs "can raise its head again."