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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-jonylah-watkins-person-of-interest-20130526,0,752926.story
Career criminal charged in Jonylah Watkins slaying
By Adam Sege, Carlos Sadovi and Dawn Rhodes
Tribune reporters
4:18 p.m. CDT, May 27, 2013
First-degree murder charges have been lodged against a 33-year-old Chatham neighborhood man in the fatal shooting of 6-month-old Jonylah Watkins in March, according to officials.
Koman Willis of the 7800 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue was charged with killing the girl and was also charged with aggravated battery with a firearm for shooting the girl's father on March 11, according to Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for Cook County State's Atty. Anita Alvarez.
According to court records, Willis has been arrested 46 times going back to 1996.
He has prior convictions for aggravated assault of a police officer from a 2002 incident in which he was sentenced to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, a 2007 conviction for drugs for which he was sentenced to one year in prison, and a conviction for a 2005 drug charge for which he received a year in prison. He also was convicted on a 1998 weapons charge for which he received probation, according to court records.
Police had been holding Willis at Area Central police headquarters, sources said.
At a press conference, police superintendent Garry F. McCarthy formally announced the charges and said the charges marked a milestone for the investigators.
"Mr. Willis has been a suspect for a very long time," McCarthy said. "The question was whether or not we could show it in a court of law."
McCarthy said that Willis allegedly shot Jonathan Watkins "in retaliation for a stolen video game system," but would not say why Willis suspected Watkins for the burglary. Watkins is not expected to be charged for any such burglary, McCarthy said.
He also said that Willis turned himself in on Saturday, accompanied by an attorney, but did not give police a statement.
"He knew we were out looking for him," McCarthy said.
Rev. Corey Brooks, who has frequently spoken on behalf of Jonylah's family, said that her parents spent today, Memorial Day, at their daughter's grave site.
"They are very grateful and thankful," Brooks said. "Hopefully they'll be able to put this part behind them and go forward."
Watkins and her father were shot the afternoon of March 11 as they sat in a minivan parked in the South Side's Woodlawn neighborhood, according to police.
Jonylah was rushed to Comer Children's Hospital after the shooting, which happened shortly before 1 p.m. near the intersection of East 65th Street and South Maryland Avenue. She died the following day.
Her 29-year-old father, who was shot multiple times and treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, survived. Police believe he was the shooter's intended target.
Like Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old high school student killed less than two months earlier, Jonylah made national headlines as yet another young victim of gun violence in Chicago.
More than than 500 people were killed in the city last year, the vast majority by gunfire. It was the first time Chicago passed that number since 2008.
Tribune reporter Jeremy Gorner contributed.
asege@tribune.com
Twitter: @AdamSege
csadovi@tribune.com
cdrhodes@tribune.com
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