Juries find 2 men guilty of killing a 7-year-old boy in 2015 street shooting

CHICAGO (AP) — A pair of juries has found two men guilty of killing a Chicago boy in what prosecutors allege was a gang-related shooting almost nine years ago.

Jurors on Thursday found 29-year-old Jamal Joiner and 28-year-old Rasheed Martin each guilty of murder in connection with the death of 7-year-old Amari Brown, the Sun-Times reported. The jurors also found them each guilty of attempted murder for wounding a woman and firing at another man whom prosecutors allege was their true target.

Joiner and Martin opened fire on a crowded street on July 4, 2015, in what prosecutors said was an attack linked to a gang conflict in the neighborhood. Brown was hit in the back as he watched fireworks. Hundreds of people attended his funeral, including then-U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis.

Martin was charged weeks after the boy’s death after he was found in Wisconsin. Joiner was charged in the spring of 2016 while in custody in connection with the shooting death of 36-year-old Courtney Jackson. That case is still pending, the Sun-Times reported.

Joiner and Martin were tried separately in the July 4, 2015, case after they accused each other of being the shooter. Prosecutors argued it didn’t matter which of them pulled the trigger. Both of them were armed and opened fire with the intent of killing someone and should have known firing on a busy street could have killed someone, prosecutors told the jurors.

Defense attorneys argued witnesses in the case were unreliable because some were convicted felons and others faced charges and were trying to help their cases.

The Associated Press