GUILTY IL - Tyshawn Lee, 9, fatally shot in Chicago alley, 2 Nov 2015

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The getaway driver in the murder of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee pleaded guilty to first-degree murder charges Tuesday.

In court Tuesday, Edwards admitted that he had driven alleged gunman Dwright Boone-Doty to Dawes Park the afternoon of Nov. 2, 2015, and waited with Corey Morgan in a black Ford Edge as Boone-Doty lured Tyshawn into an nearby alley, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Tom Darman said.

After Boone-Doty shot Tyshawn in the head, Edwards and Morgan drove him away from the scene, Darman said.

Edwards will have to serve 100% of his prison term, but will get credit for the nearly three years he has been jailed while awaiting trial.

The plea deal does not specify whether Edwards is required to testify against Boone-Doty and Morgan when they go to trial.
Jury selection for Boone-Doty and Morgan is scheduled for Monday.
Getaway driver in 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee murder pleads guilty, sentenced to 25 years

 

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Trial to begin in 9-year-old's killing that shocked Chicago

Sep 8, 2019

"...Jury selection will begin Friday in the murder trial of two of three men charged with carrying out the November 2015 attack on Tyshawn Lee, a smart fourth-grader who prosecutors say was killed by gang members to send a message to his father, a purported member of a rival gang....

Dwright Boone-Doty, who will represent himself, and Corey Morgan will be tried together but before separate juries, each of which will only consider the evidence as it pertains to one of the defendants. The third man accused in the attack, the alleged getaway driver Kevin Edwards, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for a 25-year prison sentence...."

Trial to begin in 9-year-old's killing that shocked Chicago
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Witnesses Who Saw Alleged Killers of Tyshawn Lee Jailed Ahead of Murder Trial

Sept 8, 2019

"With a few days to go before the expected start of the trial for two purported gang members accused of killing 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee, a Cook County judge has locked up three witnesses whose testimony is crucial to prosecutors.

And the judge has issued an arrest warrant out for a fourth, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Judge Thaddeus Wilson ordered all four witnesses into custody in late August, after they failed to respond to subpoenas from prosecutors preparing for the trial of Dwright Boone-Doty and Corey Morgan....

The three witnesses arrested so far have already spent more than a week in jail, and likely will remain locked up at least until they take the witness stand sometime after the trial’s scheduled start date of Sept. 17.

Those three witnesses and the 19-year-old man who isn’t in custody are expected to offer testimony placing Boone-Doty and Morgan at Dawes Park on the November 2015 afternoon when Tyshawn was killed. Prosecutors allege Doty lured Tyshawn away from a playground in the park to an alley across the street, and shot the fourth-grader in retaliation for the fatal shooting of Morgan’s brother two weeks earlier...."

Witnesses Who Saw Alleged Killers of Tyshawn Lee Jailed Ahead of Murder Trial

 

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“It was one of the most evil things I’ve ever seen,” the Rev. Michael Pfleger, who discovered the body, told the AP. The Roman Catholic priest would later preside over the nine-year-old’s funeral.

According to prosecutors, Lee was killed by gang members seeking retribution against his father. The two men who police believe carried out the execution in November 2015, Dwright Boone-Doty and Corey Morgan, are slated to go to trial this month. Jury selection is expected to begin Friday.

It’s a case that stunned even the most seasoned investigators in part due to the victim’s young age, the savage nature of the crime, and the way he was lured to his death with the promise of something so innocent.

“This was something we didn’t even think humanly possible for even hardened gang members,” said John Escalante, the interim police superintendent at the time Boone-Doty was charged for the murder.

According to prosecutors, the boy’s death was the result of an ongoing feud between the Bang Bang Gang/Terror Dome faction of the Black P Stones and the Killa Ward faction of the Black Gangster Disciples.

The month before Lee was gunned down, prosecutors said Morgan’s 25-year-old brother, Tracey Morgan, and his mother were wounded in a shooting the defendants believed was carried out by the Killa Ward faction—a gang which Lee’s father, Pierre Stokes, is allegedly a member of.

In retaliation for the shooting, Boone-Doty allegedly fired into the car of a rival gang member, killing 19-year-old Brianna Jenkins who had been sitting beside his target. The apparent intended target survived the shooting.

But then prosecutors allege that Boone-Doty, Morgan and a third man, Kevin Edwards, who acted as a getaway driver, decided to target Stokes’ son. The group went looking for Lee at Dawes Park on Nov. 2, 2015.

“They all intended that harm was to befall Lee that day,” Assistant State’s Attorney Thomas Darman said in court earlier this month, according to The Chicago Tribune. “They all knew that he was 9 years old.”

Prosecutors have said it was Boone-Doty who approached the boy and struck up a conversation before suggesting they go get a juice box. He then led the fourth grader into an alley where the boy was shot multiple times, prosecutors said.

Shortly after Boone-Doty and Morgan were arrested, then-State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said the group’s initial plan had been to “torture” Lee “by kidnapping and cutting off his fingers and ears,” but the group later decided on the more direct approach.

In the trial to begin later this week with jury selection, Boone-Doty plans to represent himself. Morgan and Boone-Doty will be tried together; however, they will have two separate juries to determine their fates.
Gang Members Lured 9-Year-Old Boy With Promise Of A Juice Box, Then Shot Him Dead, Prosecutors Say

 

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On eve of trial, alleged gunman in Tyshawn Lee murder decides not to represent himself
Two weeks ago, Dwright Boone-Doty said he didn’t want an assistant public defender and would serve as his own lawyer.

Sep 12, 2019

"...With jury selection set to begin Friday, Dwright Boone-Doty Thursday told Cook County Judge Thaddeus Wilson he would need the services of lawyers from the public defender’s office. Boone-Doty late last month told the judge he would serve as his own lawyer, citing no reason for his break with the team of three attorneys who had handled the case for the last several years....

Boone-Doty and Morgan’s trial is expected to last into October, with separate juries for each defendant, and days of expert testimony on complex DNA analysis. After the judge quizzed Boone-Doty about his knowledge of forensic science and criminal law — the high school dropout, said he had been reading Black’s Law Dictionary in the jail. Wilson initially denied Boone-Doty’s request to represent himself.

The judge relented a few days later, demanding that prosecutors turn over thousands of pages of pretrial discovery materials — with Boone-Doty getting thick stacks of documents. Wilson also had insisted that a lawyer from the public defender’s office serve as “standby counsel” to advise Boone-Doty during the pretrial hearings and at trial.

Wilson also has repeatedly asked Boone-Doty to reconsider his decision to represent himself. On Wednesday, the 24-year-old defendant seemed to hedge after getting another inches-thick stack of documents."

On eve of trial, alleged gunman in Tyshawn Lee murder decides not to represent himself

 

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Dwright Boone-Doty wanted to act as his own lawyer but when a judge rejected his plea for more time to prepare his case, Doty asked for a court-appointed attorney.

Prosecutors said he killed Tyshawn in 2015 to send a message to his father, Pierre Stokes, a purported member of a rival gang.

Doty and a second defendant, Corey Morgan, will be tried together but before separate juries.

The third man accused in the attack, the alleged getaway driver Kevin Edwards, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for a 25-year prison sentence.
Trial begins in murder of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Opening statements in the trial of two men charged with murdering 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee are set to begin Tuesday morning.


Tyshawn’s 2015 murder, described by Cook County prosecutors as a targeted execution of the fourth-grader, shocked the conscience of a city that saw some 450 killings that year.

Dwright Boone-Doty, the alleged gunman, is accused of luring Tyshawn from a Dawes Park basketball court with the promise of candy, only to shoot the boy multiple times at close range, leaving him to die in an alley.
Opening statements in Tyshawn Lee murder case expected Tuesday

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Opening statements are expected to begin Tuesday in the trials of two purported gang members accused of the “targeted assassination” of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee in 2015, as an act of revenge against the boy’s father, who is an alleged member of a rival gang.

Two separate juries have been selected to decide the fates of 31-year-old Corey Morgan and 25-year-old Dwright Boone-Doty, who allegedly targeted Tyshawn in retaliation for the gang-killing of Morgan’s brother. Both men are charged with first-degree murder.
Tyshawn Lee Murder: Trial To Begin For Two Men Accused In Execution-Style Killing Of 9-Year-Old Boy

 

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Watch live video from the courtroom in Tyshawn Lee murder trial

 

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Prosecutors said the two targeted Lee, because his father was a member of a rival gang suspected in another shooting.

Dwright Boone-Doty and Corey Morgan will be tried together but before separate juries, each of which will only consider the evidence as it pertains to one of the defendants.
Tyshawn Lee trial opening statements given, 2 on trial for murder of 9-year-old boy

 

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In the fight against gun violence, there is no more fitting poster child than Tyshawn Lee.

But the 9-year-old’s murder stood out for its brutality. “An act of barbarism,” then-Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said at the time.

Tyshawn’s murder reminds us of the worst that can happen when that violence spirals out of control. He was shot at close range — close enough to leave gunpowder residue on his face.

Prosecutors at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building began making their case Tuesday in the trials of Dwright Boone-Doty and Corey Morgan, the reputed gang members accused of murdering Tyshawn.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently took a step in that direction by creating a new Office of Public Safety to focus on reducing violent crime.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, took a step, too, by announcing a new, bipartisan House Firearms Public Awareness Task Force to determine whether state laws should be changed to help curb gun violence. The task force will also examine bond reform and the role, if any, that it plays in fueling gun violence.
EDITORIAL: The murder of a 9-year-old and the fight to end Chicago’s gun violence

 

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Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Prosecutor Margaret Hillman opened for the prosecution, outlining the case against Corey Morgan— this is a double-jury trial, so there will be separate openings for the jury hearing evidence against Morgan and the one for his co-def, alleged gunman Dwright Boone-Doty


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Depending on who's on the witness stand, the separate juries will shuttle in and out of the courtroom for the duration of the trial, which is set to last three weeks or longer.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
But, to summarize: Hillman started with the scene of the lovely fall afternoon when Tyshawn Lee went to Dawes Park, near his house, and played basketball. There, Hillman said, he was approached by Doty, Morgan and co-def Kevin Edwards (Edwards pleaded out earlier this month)


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Witnesses saw Doty, Morgan and Edwards getting in and out of a black SUV, playing basketball. "Doty played basketball with (Tyshawn) and eventually they gained his trust," Hillman said, and Doty led the fourth-grader to an alley with Morgan and Edwards following in the SUV


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
(Worth noting: four of those witnesses were arrested in August and jailed for weeks ahead of this trial, because prosecutors feared they would not show up to testify.)


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Hillman says that they have other evidence that Morgan was at the park: GPS data from the SUV, which was registered to Edwards; Doty's DNA on a basketball found by Tyshawn's body; GPS from Morgan's phone, showing he was circling Dawes Park the day of the murder


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
After luring Tyshawn into the alley "and doty took out a 40- caliber handgun and he executed Tyshawn in broad daylight," Hillman said. Seven shell casings lay in the alley, and the gun was traced back to a sale in New Mexico. The buyer: Anthony Morgan, Corey's older brother.

 

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Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
The motive for the killing as a family matter, Hillman said. The Morgans, Doty and Edwards were members of the BBG/Terror Dome faction of the Black P-Stones, a gang in the midst of a deadly feud with members of the Killa Ward clique of the Gangster Disciples.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
A few weeks before Tyshawn was killed, Corey Morgan's brother, Tracy, was gunned down in a shooting that also wounded Morgan's mother. "Shooting his mother was beyond the pale. There weren't many rules in this feud, but family was off limits. They were untouchable."


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Morgan, Doty and Edwards went to the park looking for Tyshawn, knowing that his father was Killa Ward member Pierre Stokes. Morgan was in a "murderous rage" after his mother was shot, and said he was going to kill "grandmas, mommas, kids and all. Whoever he could catch."


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Morgan's lawyer is Tom Breen, legendary defense attorney who's clients have included mobster James Marcello. Breen leads with an appeal not to let prejudice against gangs or sympathy for the child murder victim keep them from looking at the "lies" underpinning the state's case.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Breen concedes that gangs are "a cancer on our society"and that Tyshawn's death was "as bad as any execution you can see. That executuion of that 9yo boy has to come from one singularly evil person not from a plan. His killer did so of his own volition and for his own reason"


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Breen's client, of course, is not alleged to have been the shooter, so he's clearly happy to throw the alleged gunman , Doty, under the bus.

 

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Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
As we move on to the opening statement for alleged gunman Dwright Boone-Doty, Hillman starts out repeating her script from Morgan's opening.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Hillman addressing jury seated to hear evidence against Doty, so this statement will get into what would appear to be the most damning evidence in the case: recordings of Doty bragging about the killing to a jail inmate— statements that are inadmissible hearsay against Morgan.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Hillman again mentions DNA evidence "linked to" Doty found on Tyshawn's basketball, prompting an objection from Doty's lawyers. In pre-trial hearings, there was lengthy litigation over the science used to determine that DNA on was on the ball came from Doty.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Hillman on tapes: "You’re going to hear recording about Dwright Doty talking about the murder. You’re going to hear recordings of Dwright Doty rapping about the murder. And you’re going to hear about Dwright Doty laughing about the murder."


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
In her opening, Doty's public defender, Brett Gallagher, said that Doty's statements were jailhouse bravado. With rumors swirling that he was the killer, Doty "pretended to be bigger and badder and more ruthless than he actually was, in order to survive."


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
And, Gallagher in turn points the finger at a more likely suspect in Tyshawn's murder: co-defendant Corey Morgan, who's brother was killed, whose mother was wounded, and whose other brother bought the murder weapon."


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
For those of you watching the live feed, that may be it for today. Judge Thaddeus Wilson approved cameras in the courtroom only for opening arguments, closing arguments (in a few weeks), the verdict (and, if necessary, sentencing).

 

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Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
After a break, Judge Wilson is back on the bench. The defense has asked for a mistrial, based on prosecutors stating that DNA "linked to Doty" was on Tyshawn's basketball. Wilson denied the motion, but there will be possibly days of expert testimony about the DNA evidence.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Trial resumes, both juries are led into the courtroom, and ASA Thomas Darman calls Det. Brian Drees as the first witness for the prosecution.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Drees was at the scene of the shooting of Corey Morgan's brother, Tracy, and Morgan's mother, in October, about three weeks before Tyshawn Lee was killed. Tracy died after suffering 11 gunshot wounds; his mother was hit in the arm and survived.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
A year later, three men were charged with that murder:

Gang member charged with slaying of Tracey Morgan, which prosecutors say led to fatal shooting of Tyshawn Lee


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
Pardon, three men were arrested, only two were charged.

 

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Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
On cross-examination, Morgan attorney, Jon Brayman asks how many detectives assigned to investigate Tracy Morgan's murder before Tyshawn Lee was killed; 4-5 handled initially. After Tyshawn's death, cold case unit and officers assigned to CPD's "Operation: Remember" task force


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 Sep 17
After short cross of Det. Drees by Doty attorney Danita Ivory, we're wrapped for the day. Back tomorrow morning.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 24h24 hours ago
‘He executed Tyshawn in broad daylight’: Trials open for 2 men charged in murder of 9-year-old

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2019/9/17/20871121/executed-tyshawn-lee-broad-daylight-trial-opens-2-men-charged-murder-9-year-old?utm_campaign=agrimm34&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter …

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Attorneys give opening statements in trial for men accused of killing Tyshawn Lee

Sep 17, 2019

 

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Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 7h7 hours ago
Day 2 of the Tyshawn Lee murder trial is underway (sorry, some connectivity problems delayed this post; testimony started about an hour ago).


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 7h7 hours ago
Tyshawn's grandmother, who lived across the street from the park where Tyshawn purportedly played basketball with his alleged killers, was the first witness called today.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 7h7 hours ago
The 75-year-old said the day he was killed, Tyshawn came to her house, said hello to her as she read her bible in her room, then asked to go shoot hoops.
"He said 'I love you grandmama.' I said I love you I love you too, Tyshawn. He said 'I'll be back'... he didn’t come back."


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 7h7 hours ago
Soon after the boy left, a man knocked on her door and said he had been killed. She ran to the alley, where her grandson lay dead.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 7h7 hours ago
Grandmama's role is that of the life/death witness, typically a close relative called by prosecutors in a murder trial to give the basic facts that a person was, indeed, alive, and was killed. Among evidence introduced w/her verification was the familiar class portrait of Tyshawn


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 7h7 hours ago
She also affirmed that her daughter, Karla Lee was Tyshawm's mother, and that his father was Pierre Stokes. Prosecutors say that Tyshawn was targeted because Stokes was a member of a gang that was in a violent feud with the defendants' gang.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 7h7 hours ago
Tyshawn's uncle, who was washing a car in front of the house, said he saw 9-year-old come back from school, enter the house. When he heard shots, he went to check on relatives. When he saw people running from the park, he ran also, saw Tyshawn's body in an alley next to the house

 

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Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 7h7 hours ago
State called Det. Herman Otero, a former CPD tactical officer who heard the shots from a few blocks away and raced to the scene. In the alley across from Dawes Park, he saw Tyshawn's body. A former medical officer in the Navy, Otero could see immediately the boy was dead.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 7h7 hours ago
Prosecutors sounded like they were teeing up to post a picture of Tyshawn from the shooting, prompting defendant Corey Morgan's lawyer, Tom Breen to ask the judge to warn the jury about the "heinous" images.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 7h7 hours ago
Morgan is not charged as Tyshawn's shooter— prosecutors say Morgan was at park with alleged gunman Dwright Doty, both were members of the same gang that was feuding with Tyshawn's father's gang. In openings, Breen called Tyshawn's murder horrific— but said killer acted on his own


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 6h6 hours ago
We're on a break, btw. We'll be back at 1:45 with more witnesses, and in the meantime, I'll keep adding to the thread of the morning witnesses.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 6h6 hours ago
So, Det. Otero, the first CPD officer at the scene and a Navy vet, began describing seeing Tyshawn Lee's body as "one of the most disturbing images..." before he was cut off by ASA Craig Engenbretsen.

 

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Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 6h6 hours ago
Those disturbing images of Tyshawn's body are described in more detail by the next witness. Former CPD Det. John Murray helped process the crime scene, and his testimony was used to introduce photographs that include a mid-distance picture of Tyshawn's body, in a pool of blood.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 6h6 hours ago
The tableu, photographed using spotlights to illuminate the alley several hours after the shooting, is haunting: Tyshawn is sprawled out in the alley, next to a blue trash bin, with his basketball just a few feet away.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 6h6 hours ago
Det. Murray testifies seven .40-caliber shells lay on the ground; Tyshawn has wounds to his head and his finger was "amputated."


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 5h5 hours ago
We are back in the courtroom, with Det. John Murray on the stand for cross-examination by Todd Pugh, one of the attorneys for Corey Morgan.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 5h5 hours ago
Pugh opens with a line of questioning about how Murray assembled his photo lineups, asking whether in Nov. 2015, Murray had the names of suspects— pointing out that Morgan's brother, Anthony, and his former co-def Kevin Edwards (who has pleaded guilty already) and Antwan Davis.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 5h5 hours ago
Anthony Morgan has been sentenced on federal charges for trafficking guns into Chicago, including the weapon that killed Tyshawn Lee.


Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 5h5 hours ago

Man who illegally bought gun that killed 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee gets 4 years in prison



Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 4h4 hours ago
Pugh also points out that police files contain no notes on interviews with two witnesses who are expected to testify; both were teens questioned in the park the day after the shooting, and helped ID the defendants.

 

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Andy Grimm‏Verified account @agrimm34 11h11 hours ago
Family recalls day Tyshawn Lee was killed

Family recalls day Tyshawn Lee was killed: “He said ‘I’ll be back’ .. He didn’t come back”
On the 2nd day of murder trial, jurors for the first time saw photos from the shooting scene.

Sep 18, 2019

"Jurors on Wednesday saw two sets of photographs of Tyshawn Lee.

One set showed the fourth-grader in his school uniform shirt and smiling in a school portrait. The second set showed the 9-year-old’s body slumped in a pool of blood.

On the second day of the murder trial of alleged gunmen Dwright Boone-Doty and Corey Morgan, prosecutors for the first time showed jurors images from the scene of a crime that shocked the city in the fall of 2015, showing the elementary schooler’s body laying in an alley across from Dawes Park, his prized basketball just a few feet away....

Jurors are likely to see worse photographs as the trial, expected to last at least three weeks, rolls on. Judge Thaddeus Wilson last month ruled that prosecutors also can enter a limited number of autopsy photos into evidence, noting the pictures were among the most horrific he had seen...."

Family recalls day Tyshawn Lee was killed: "He said ‘I’ll be back’ .. He didn’t come back"