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11th August 2023
10:01am BST
A man has been charged with first-degree murder after a 9-year-old girl was killed while playing on her scooter and eating ice cream.
NBC News reported that the girl, since identified as Serabi Medina, was enjoying a typical summer night in her Portage Park neighbourhood, Chicago, on Saturday night when the tragedy unfolded.
Michael Goodman, 43, was held without bond Tuesday over the shooting.
A court was told that shortly before 9.30pm a shot rang out across the street from Serabi, leading to her dad, who was holding ice cream given to him by his daughter, to tell her to take her scooter inside their apartment.
Goodman, the court was told, then appeared holding a gun and walked towards the child, near her apartment building's entrance.
Serabi's dad yelled at Goodman, asking him what he was doing, and ran towards his daughter, but did not get there in time, NBC reported.
Court records allege Goodman raised the firearm and shot Serabi in the head.
Her father then tackled Goodman and as the pair fell to the ground, the gun fired and struck Goodman in the eye.
A motive for the shooting has not been specified.
Police said Monday that Goodman was in critical condition at a hospital.
Megan Kelley, a neighbour and friend of the girl’s family, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the gunman had confronted the girl and her father about noise.
“Yesterday, when he came out, before he shot her, he had said something about them being too loud,” Kelley told the publication.
She also told the newspaper that the suspect had a history of complaining about children playing in the neighborhood.
Goodman’s lawyer told the court that her client suffers from severe mental health issues, and a mental health care order for immediate psychiatric treatment was entered into the court.
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