A 9-year-old girl in Chicago was playing on her scooter and enjoying an ice cream cone on Saturday, just before her adult neighbor crossed the street, shot and killed her in the head, according to court documents.
The girl has been identified as Serabi Medina.
Michael Goodman, 43, is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting and was held without bail on Tuesday. He remained in jail Thursday, court records said.
The child was seemingly enjoying a typical summer evening in her Portage Park neighborhood shortly before 9:30 p.m. when a gunshot rang out across the street from her street, according to the bond provider who was presented in court Tuesday during a bail hearing for Goodman.
According to the bond provider, after the gun was fired, Serabi’s father, who was holding ice cream given to him by his daughter, instructed her to take her on her scooter and enter their apartment.
Then Goodman appeared with a gun in his hand. He walked over to Serabi at the entrance of the apartment building. The child’s father yelled at Goodman, asking what he was doing, but Goodman ignored him and continued to the apartment vestibule.
Serabi’s father then ran towards his daughter, but did not reach her in time – Goodman raised the firearm and shot the child in the head, the court said.
The girl’s father managed to tackle Goodman into the vestibule, and as the pair fell to the floor, the gun went off, hitting Goodman in the eye, the court said.
A motive for the shooting was not stated in the bond offering.
Police said Monday Goodman was taken to hospital and is in critical condition.
Megan Kelley, a neighbor and friend of the girl’s family, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the gunman confronted the girl and her father over noise. “Yesterday, when he came out, before he shot her, he said something about them being too loud,” Kelley said.
She also told the newspaper that the suspect had a history of complaining about children playing in the neighborhood.
“He just came out screaming about the noise. It just didn’t make sense. It was all wrong,” Kelley said. “Anyone in the community would just tell him it’s just kids having fun playing, just let them be.”
Fiona Ortiz, a spokesman for the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, said Thursday that Goodman is being represented by a public defender. Goodman’s attorney told the court on Tuesday that he suffers from serious mental health issues and that a mental health order for immediate psychiatric treatment has been filed with the court, Ortiz said.
The bond provider said that in addition to the girl’s father, three witnesses identified Goodman as the shooter.
Investigators found a 9mm shell casing outside the vestibule and a 9mm Canik firearm from the vestibule. A search of Goodman’s apartment revealed a 9mm bullet lodged in the wall, the bond provider said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
