Sixteen-year-old suspect charged as an adult in Chicago shooting of seven-year-old

CHICAGO, IL - A 16-year-old male has been charged in the fatal shooting of Jai'mani Amir Rivera, a seven-year-old boy who was killed Tuesday on the Near West Side of Chicago when he was struck in the chest by gunfire as he left his apartment complex. Police confirmed that the shot which killed the boy was fired from outside of the complex.

Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling told The Chicago Sun-Times that responding officers quickly began to render aid to Rivera and even rushed him to a nearby hospital in a police vehicle. Unfortunately, the child was pronounced dead shortly after.
 

“Jai’mani’s life was taken from him,” Snelling told reporters at Chicago Police Headquarters. “For what? There is no excuse for this violence.”
 

The Chicago Police Department announced charges in the June 18, 2024 murder of a 7-year-old boy on Chicago's Near West Side.

Watch full press conference here on @fox32news Chicago: https://t.co/6mex0z5L8t pic.twitter.com/wHnvl9Wz1z

— Chicago Police (@Chicago_Police) June 21, 2024

The suspect, aged 16, was arrested Thursday just a few blocks from the scene of the murder. It was announced at the press conference that he is to be charged as an adult on four counts, including first-degree murder and first-degree murder for personally discharging a firearm that caused the death of the victim, and was already wanted on two different arrest warrants. 

Reporting from ABC News indicated that the CPD had not released the identity of the suspect because he is a juvenile, but did say he was taken into custody less than 48 hours after the murder. The Chicago Tribune later identified the suspect as Raysean Comer, 16, citing Cook County prosecutors. Comer had two active warrants as earlier reported and two pending cases before the court.

During his detention hearing, authorities told Judge Antara Nath Rivera that Comer was recognized in still images captured from surveillance by three CPD officers and that he was known from his prior interactions with police. Comer was ordered to be detained.

Snelling credited his detectives saying they "did excellent work to hold this violent offender accountable and take him off the streets so that he can't destroy another family."

Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti explained to reporters that the police were able to track the suspect's movements both before and after the shooting using video footage with help from a mobilized community. An anonymous tip also led to his identification and indicated that he acted alone she said.

Detectives reportedly recovered 13 shell casings but have not recovered the weapon, believed to be a semi-automatic rifle. While it is unclear why the shooting happened, Ursitti said, it is clear that Rivera was not the intended victim. 
 

"We all understand this is senseless and this is why it's senseless -- we can't give you a confirmed motive for why this happened," the chief detective said. "There is no justification or explanation that would make it any better. But this is the senselessness that we're talking about."

Speaking to reporters outside of the hospital where Rivera died, Snelling said, "The random shooting of this seven-year-old is unacceptable. This wasn’t a situation where the parents didn’t know where their child was. This child was walking out of his residence and was struck by random gunfire.”

Approving the petition to detain Comer, Judge Nath Rivera said the prosecution had shown clear and convincing evidence that the 16-year-old was the shooter and that he remained a danger to the community. He is set to appear in court on Tuesday.