Corey Morgan has been arrested on a first-degree murder charge for the killing of Tyshawn Lee on November 2.
A man has been arrested in the death of a nine-year-old boy who was lured into a Chicago alleyway and shot, allegedly over his dad's gang ties.
Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy announced at a news conference on Friday that they had arrested 27-year-old Corey Morgan on a first-degree murder charge for the killing of Tyshawn Lee on November 2.
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"It was act of barbarism, the assassination of a nine-year-old child as a gang retaliation to get back at his father," McCarthy said.
He added that Morgan is believed to have two accomplices, although did not state their alleged roles in the killing. One of the men is in custody on an unrelated charge and a murder warrant is out for the third man, identified as Kevin Edwards, McCarthy said.
"All three are in the same gang," McCarthy said. "I can tell you this: They are going to be obliterated. That gang just signed its own death warrant."
Morgan's attorney says he "absolutely denies" any involvement in the boy's death.
The boy's father, Pierre Stokes, has previously said he is not part of a gang and does not think his son was killed in retaliation.
The fourth-grader was on his way to play basketball with friends when he was killed earlier this month. His grandmother found him shot in the head and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy report showed the gunman shot Tyshawn at such close range that the boy had powder burns on his face, the Chicago Tribune reported. He also had bullet wounds on his hands and back.
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"Tyshawn Lee was murdered in probably the most abhorrent, cowardly, unfathomable crime that I’ve witnessed in 35 years of policing," McCarthy said following the killing.
A week later, hundreds gathered for Tyshawn's funeral and paid tribute to the little boy, who dreamed of playing in the NBA and loved video games and macaroni cheese.
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