A Chicago man has been charged with murder for fatally shooting his friend’s 12-year-old brother as he played videogames—all because the boy made fun of him for FaceTiming with his girlfriend, prosecutors say.
Jaran Hughes, 21, was denied bail Wednesday after he was arrested in Racine, Wisconsin, where he fled to apparently hide out with relatives following the alleged Jan. 3 murder, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Prosecutors say the violence came out of nowhere as Hughes, 12-year-old Marcel Wilson, and several of Wilson’s family members sat around playing videogames at their Englewood home. Hughes, a longtime family friend who was reportedly in the middle of a spat with his girlfriend, was talking to her over FaceTime when Wilson made a joke about it.
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Hughes is said to have responded by pulling out a semi-automatic handgun and pointing it at the 12-year-old’s chest. The boy and his sister told him to put the weapon away, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said in court Wednesday, but Hughes “shot him right in the chest in front of the other family members.”
The boy clutched his chest and was able to get up and run toward his mother’s room, yelling, “He shot me! He shot me!” But he collapsed in the hallway and later died at a nearby hospital, Murphy said.
Hughes reportedly retrieved several shell casings before rushing out of the home. Authorities say search warrants later revealed he wrote to his girlfriend on Facebook, saying, “My life is over. I’m going to be in jail.”
His next court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 22.
In the wake of the fatal shooting, a great-aunt of Wilson remembered him as “a good little helpful boy.”
In comments to the Chicago Sun-Times, Donna Gaither said the 12-year-old “liked to be a comedian” and “loved to crack jokes.”
