JOHNYLAH WATKINS - 6 months - / Accused: Koman Willis - Chicago, IL

Baby dies after being shot five times as dad changes diaper

By Emily Florez and Courtney Copenhagen, NBCChicago.com

A 6-month-old baby has died after she was shot Monday while her father was changing her diaper.

Johnylah Watkins passed away Tuesday morning, Chicago Pastor Corey Brooks confirmed.

Johnylah's father, identified by family members as 28-year-old Jonathan Watkins, remains in critical condition. He was bent over the girl to change her on the front passenger seat of the family van when the shooting occurred, police said.

More news from NBCChicago.com

Johnylah and Watkins were both taken to hospitals in critical condition after shots rang out at about 12:45 p.m. Monday in the 6500 block of South Maryland Avenue. Watkins was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Johnylah was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital.
"The city of Chicago should be outraged that a 6-month-old baby could be shot and killed in our city," Brooks said. "It's horrific."

Brooks said the baby's mother is distraught and in a lot of pain. "We're going to find who did this and make sure they are brought to justice," he said. "We're not going to be afraid. We're going to take back our neighborhood."

Police were still looking for the shooter, who ran up behind Watkins, fired, and then took off to a nearby blue conversion van, said department spokesman John Mirabelli. Bullets struck Jonathan Watkins in the buttocks and on the right side of his face. His young daughter was hit five times: in the thigh, shoulder, lung, liver and bowels, the family later said.

Witnesses reported hearing at least 10 gunshots.

"I just heard like a lot of shots and skid marks, so that's when I ran to the corner," said Patricia McGowan, who lives near the scene but was at a salon at the time gunfire rang out. "There is always gunshots and crime in the neighborhood, always drug activity in the neighborhood. ... It's heartbreaking. We're looking for a place to move out immediately because that could have easily been me coming from the bus."

Police said Watkins has known gang affiliations.

Mary Young said her daughter, Judy Young, and Watkins were just recently married. Judy was grazed by a bullet in the knee about seven months ago, she said, while Johnylah was still in the womb.

Pastor Brooks has offered a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the little girl's shooter. Brooks gained notoriety last year for camping out on the roof of a south side motel in an effort to raise money for a community center.

Earlier in the day, Chicago police Supt. Garry McCarthy touted progress in his department's efforts against crime. As of Monday, shooting incidents in the city are down 19 percent year-over-year, he said.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/12/17279475-baby-dies-after-being-shot-five-times-as-dad-changes-diaper?lite

My soul cries for another killed little angel. Sometimes I'm ashamed to live in Illinois. Chicago is a black mark on all of the state. They force guns laws on law abiding people but won't crack down on the violence, gangs, drugs and prostitution that they get money from. Just stinks. Little angels get caught in the cross fire. We don't have the death penality any more either. Something I strongly advocate. Once they are dead they won't kill again. Just recently we had a killer escape from Chicago by incompetent officers and fouled paper work. Fortunately he did not kill and was recaptured. Death for a Death, especially when it comes to murdered children. William

Chicago infant dies after being shot 5 times while dad was changing diaper, authorities say
Jonylah Watkins Facebook via CBS Chicago

(CBS/AP) CHICAGO - Authorities say a 6-month-old Chicago girl died after being shot five times Monday afternoon while her father was changing her diaper.

Jonylah Watkins died Tuesday morning at Comer Children's Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. Her father, Jonathan Watkins, was also shot in Monday's attack and remains in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Authorities Jonathan Watkins was standing outside of his minivan in the South Side neighborhood of Woodlawn, changing his daughter's diaper in the front seat, when the shooter approached him from behind and opened fire.

According to CBS Chicago, police say the gunman then fled across an open lot before driving off in a blue conversion van.

Sources told the station that Jonathan Watkins had documented gang ties, but a spokesperson for the family said they had no knowledge of any connections.

Police were looking into the possibility that the shooting may have stemmed from an angry Facebook post, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Police are looking for security footage that might help them track down the shooter.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57573801-504083/chicago-infant-dies-after-being-shot-5-times-while-dad-was-changing-diaper-authorities-say/

Shooting that killed 6-month-old likely gang retaliation, source says

BY FRANK MAIN, MITCH DUDEK, LISA DONOVAN, STEFANO ESPOSITO AND FRAN SPIELMAN Staff Reporters March 12, 2013 8:44AM
As teddy bears and balloons piled up Tuesday night near the South Side spot where a 6-month-old girl was fatally shot and her father wounded, detectives continued to scour the Woodlawn neighborhood for leads.

“We don’t have one individual who is stepping up to help us,” Supt. Garry McCarthy said.

A police source said Jonathan Watkins may have been targeted in retaliation for alleged links to an earlier robbery and shooting.

“We’re not clear at this point if he’s cooperating,” McCarthy said of Watkins.

Watkins was recovering from bullet wounds at Northwestern Memorial Hospital as a funeral was planned for his daughter, Jonylah.

While police are exploring several different angles to the investigation, McCarthy said Tuesday that “there are very strong gang overtones to this event.”

Police sources say Watkins, 29, is a gang member who has been arrested 30 times, including once in 2007 police for illegal possession of a 9mm handgun, which he told police he was carrying for protection, court records show. He received a three-year prison sentence.

Police are tapping the Rev. Corey Brooks, who is acting as the Watkins family spokesman, to assist in obtaining help from hesitant family members.

On Monday afternoon, Watkins was standing on the curb in the 6500 block of South Maryland, changing his daughter’s diaper on the front passenger seat of a minivan, when a gunman emerged unnoticed from a gangway behind him and opened fire. He and Jonylah were injured. She survived emergency surgery but died Tuesday morning.

Brooks initially said Jonylah had been shot five times, but a law enforcement report indicates one bullet entered her right shoulder and exited her left buttocks.

Watkins remained hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday, with gunshot wounds to the side, buttocks and cheek, but he spoke briefly by phone with the Chicago Sun-Times.

“I was trying to help. I was trying to help. I was trying to help her,” Jonathan Watkins said in a weak voice shortly after learning that Jonylah had died.

“They told me she didn’t make it,” Watkins said, his voice cracking with emotion.

He said he has no idea who shot them, although McCarthy said it appeared that he was the “intended victim.”

Watkins recently married his wife, Judy, 20, who works at a McDonald’s restaurant. They live in Woodlawn.

Brooks, who said Jonathan Watkins has two other children from a previous relationship, met with Watkins and his wife Tuesday to pray, but he did not discuss the shooting with them. He is “pretty sedated,” Brooks said.

“I don’t know him to be in a gang,” said Brooks Tuesday night at a memorial for Jonylah.

Also on Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the shooting “a senseless, despicable act of violence that is heartbreaking.”

Although the city saw homicides drop in February by 50 percent from the previous year — a trend continuing into March — Emanuel said that progress in reducing violence “is only one measure.”

Monday’s shooting was Jonylah’s second brush with gun violence. Judy Watkins was shot in the knee less than three blocks from Monday’s shooting when she was eight months pregnant with Jonylah.

Jonathan Watkins and his daughter had been visiting friends in the neighborhood when the shooting occurred, said Mary Young, the baby’s maternal grandmother.

After the shooting, the gunman ran across a vacant lot, hopped into a blue van and drove north.

On Tuesday, Ald. Willie Cochran (20th), a former Chicago Police officer, said he has taken the unprecedented step of calling on gang leaders to essentially deliver the message that, it’s OK to kill each other, but don’t kill innocent people and certainly not kids.

Cochran was joined by several other African-American aldermen and a former gang member at a City Hall news conference to condemn the murder..

“We’ve talked with some of the gang leaders, and we’ve talked about how important it is for them to not harbor offenders that they know are offenders who have committed crimes associated with innocent victims,” Cochran said. “These are acts that are carried out by people on the street. And on the street is where it has to be dealt with.”

Cochran said he never talked to the gang leaders about who shot Jonylah. He simply sought and received a “commitment” from them to pass along an important message.

“Innocent victims are unacceptable. They are out-of-bounds. They’re off-limits,” he said.

Contributing: Lisa Donovan, Fran Spielman

http://www.suntimes.com/18800725-761/shooting-that-killed-6-month-old-likely-gang-retaliation-source-says.html

Jonylah Watkins’ father cooperating with police, pastor says

By Stefano Esposito, Frank Main and Mitch Dudek March 13, 2013 9:46AM
The father of the 6-month-old girl fatally shot earlier this week is cooperating with police from his hospital bed, although he doesn’t know who shot him, a family spokesman said Wednesday morning.

“He is giving them the information that they are asking for,” said the Rev. Corey Brooks, acting as a spokesman for Jonylah Watkins’ family. “He is answering every question.”
But Jonathan Watkins, wounded by the same gunfire that killed his infant daughter, hasn’t given police the name of the shooter.

“If he knew who shot him, trust me, they would be arrested by now,” said Brooks, who was on his way to visit Watkins at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “Or police would have that name.”

A police source has told the Chicago Sun-Times that Jonathan Watkins may have been targeted in retaliation for alleged links to an earlier robbery and shooting. And on Tuesday, Supt. Garry McCarthy told reporters no one has stepped up to help in the investigation.

“We’re not clear at this point if he’s cooperating,” McCarthy said of Watkins.

http://www.suntimes.com/18824758-761/jonylah-watkins-father-cooperating-with-police-pastor-says.html

Personally I think the father is just as guilty as the shooter. He was involved with gangs which put his little girl in danger. He's just as responsible. Maybe it's time that we not allow any violent felons access to children. If they have been convicted of a violent crime then they should have NO acces to ANY children. William

Funeral set for 6-month-old girl shot in Chicago
Posted: Mar 14, 2013 7:36 AM CDT Updated: Mar 14, 2013 7:36 AM CDT

CHICAGO (AP) - A funeral will be held next week for a 6-month-old Chicago girl killed in a shooting that police believe targeted her father.

Services for Jonylah (juh-NEYE'-la) Watkins' are to be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the New Beginnings Church in the South Side neighborhood of Woodlawn.

The girl was killed by a gunman who ambushed her father while he was changing the infant's diaper in a parked minivan.

The father, 29-year-old Jonathan Watkins, was seriously wounded.

A family spokesman, the Rev. Corey Brooks, tells the Chicago Sun-Times (http://bit.ly/14ZE1sx ) that Watkins is cooperating with police from his hospital bed but doesn't know who shot him.

Watkins is a gang member with a long criminal history.

Brooks says if Watkins knew who shot him "they would be arrested by now."

http://www.whbf.com/story/21639376/funeral-set-for-6-month-old-girl-shot-in-chicago

Funeral Tuesday For 6-Month-Old Jonylah Watkins
Services to be held at New Beginnings Church
By Lauren Petty and Lisa Balde
Tuesday, Mar 19, 2013 | Updated 7:29 AM CDT



Friends and family today will lay to rest a 6-month-old girl who was fatally shot last week while sitting in her father's lap.

A wake for Jonylah Watkins begins at 10 a.m. followed by her funeral at 11 a.m. at New Beginnings Church, 6620 S. King Drive, in Chicago.

Jonylah was in the family van with her father, Jonathon Watkins, when someone approached and opened fire in the city's Woodlawn neighborhood, police said. That's contrary to initial reports given right after the shooting occurred.

Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said Monday he wanted to set the record straight about what happened. Last week police said Jonylah was shot five times while her father changed her diaper in the passenger seat.

McCarthy said the little girl actually was on her dad's lap in the driver's seat when the gunman approached from the passenger side. McCarthy also said Jonylah was shot once, not the five times the family originally said.

McCarthy said Jonathon Watkins, who has gang ties and 39 arrests, was clearly the intended target. He is cooperating with police, McCarthy said, but needs to offer more.

"At this point, we think there's a lot more that he can help us with, but he is, in fact, cooperating with the investigation," he said. "We think that there's more that he can tell us."

Still McCarthy said he has no doubt an arrest will be made in the tragic case.

An $11,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the shooter

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Funeral-6-Month-Old-Jonylah-Watkins-Chicago-198941421.html

I hope they catch the person or persons responsible. I think the dad should be charged with endangerment. His activities in gangs led to this. William

William, I completely agree.

Chicago 'gang member' charged with murder after he 'shot dead six-month-old girl because her dad stole his video-game console'

Koman Willis, 33, is charged with first degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm in the shooting death of six-month-old Jonylah Watkins

The baby was shot dead on March 11 as she sat on her father's lap in a minivan

Family and friends sobbed and called for change as they stood by her tiny white casket at her March 19 funeral

Father, Jonathan Watkins, 29, was also shot but survived and is said to be cooperating with police
Willis handed himself in on the weekend, police say

A 33-year-old documented gang member with 38 prior arrests has been charged in the devastating March shooting of a six-month-old Chicago girl - and police claim the alleged murder was in retaliation for a stolen video game system.

Koman Willis is facing first degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm charges after he allegedly shot dead baby Jonylah Watkins while aiming for her father, Jonathan Watkins.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said at a Monday press conference that Mr Watkins had earlier robbed Willis, prompting the spray of bullets.

The man turned himself in on the weekend though he is yet to provide a statement and no weapon has been recovered, McCarthy said.

But witness accounts and pictures of the shooter's van leaving the scene were among the evidence that led police to file the charges.

'I don't want to use cliche terms, but police were pounding the pavement,' McCarthy said, according to DNA Info.

Little Jonylah was struck by a bullet on March 11 while she sat in a minivan with her father who was also shot three times but survived.

Reverend Corey Brooks, who held a emotionally-charged funeral service for the baby in March and is acting as a spokesman for the family, said Jonylah's parents had been cooperating with police to find their daughter's killer.

Brooks added that Watkins, 29, who has a lengthy criminal history and was criticized by the community in the wake of his daughter's death, hadn't been asked by police to identify a possible shooter.

Accused: Koman Willis is facing first degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm charges after he allegedly shot dead baby Jonylah Watkins while aiming for her father, Jonathan Watkins


Progress: Police said they've been pounding the pavement on the case of Jonylah Watkins, pictured


Murdered: Jonylah Watkins was shot as she sat on her father, Jonathan's lap. She survived a separate shooting of her mother Judy when she was still in the womb

'Jonathan has been very cooperative. He's worked with the police diligently. He wants the person to be caught,' Brooks told the Chicago Sun Times.

The smiley baby was buried amid emotional scenes in a Chicago church on March 19.

As the tiny body of Jonylah lay before mourners in an open coffin, Reverend Brooks, called on local gang members to change.

The baby's maternal grandmother, Mary Young, also read a poem pleading for the local community to change, saying: 'My neighbors of Chicago, what have thou done?'

Jonylah died on March 11 when a bullet tore through several organs in her body in what was the second time the infant had been a victim of gunfire: when her mother Judy, 20, was eight months pregnant, she was shot in the knee as she walked home with a group of women.

Jonylah's father was shot multiple times in the attack that killed his daughter but survived.

At the time of the funeral, frustrated police said no-one had yet come forward from the local community with information to help the murder investigation.

Jonylah's grandmother took the opportunity to hit out at the culture of silence in a poem she had written for the service.


Change: In his March 19 eulogy Reverend Corey Brooks, pictured, called on gang members to use Jonylah's death as a catalyst to change their lifestyles


Grief: A family member is consoled during Jonylah's March 19 funeral at the New Beginnings Church in Chicago

She said: 'My neighbors of Chicago, our youth is in danger on the streets of the town with the false code of silence while they shoot each other down.

'My neighbors of Chicago, take back your home. Don't spare the rod and leave your children to roam.'

Reverend Brooks echoed Mrs Watkins' sentiments in his eulogy.

'I want to challenge you to get clean, change, and that change starts with believing you can change,' he said, according to yahoo.com.

Jonylah had been sitting in her father's lap in the driver's seat of a parked minivan when a Willis allegedly opened fire.

The baby, whose mother was working at McDonalds at the time, died the next morning from her wounds after surgeons spent hours trying to save her.

McCarthy initially said the shooting appeared to be gang-related, though detectives didn't have a specific motive until Monday.

Despite the shocking crime, neighbors were refusing to cooperate with police.

'We don't have one individual who's stepping up to help us,' McCarthy said in late March, though it appears the community came forward with information and photos in the intervening months.


Support: Mourners cling to each other for comfort in front of the white coffin in which Jonylah lies, in pink dress and white bonnet


Tears: Reverend Corey Brooks broke down during his eulogy, while attendees dressed in tribute to Jonylah


Respects: The church was full of mourners paying their respects to the girl who didn't make her first birthday
In March, Mr Watkins told the Chicago Sun-Times from his hospital room that he was devastated by the death of his infant daughter.

'I was trying to help. I was trying to help. I was trying to help her,' he said, breaking down.

Still, he claims he has no idea who shot at them or why he was targeted.

The fatal shooting came months after Jonylah's mother Judy, 20, was hit by a gunman when she was pregnant with Jonylah.

Her family said Mrs Watkins was hit in the knee when she was eight months pregnant as she walked home with a group of women.

Scores of people have been killed in Chicago this year - most of them victims of gang-related shootings on the south side of the city.

Chicago gained national attention when its murders for January spiked to 43, the highest rate in years - making the city even more dangerous than when mobster Al Capone ruled the streets.

Police initially said Mr Watkins had links to the Gangster Disciples clique though his family denies he has ties to gangs.

Willis allegedly shot at the father and baby from an alley and hit Mr Watkins in the cheek and buttocks, Chicago police spokesman John Mirabelli said.

The gunman then got into a nearby blue minivan and fled the scene, according to DNAinfo.

Dominique Young, 21, Mr Watkins' sister, said she heard the gunfire and arrived at the van within seconds to find the windows had been shot through.

She told DNAinfo: 'They knew she was in there and they tried to take my niece's life, and it's so wrong.'

Reverend Brooks' church New Beginnings Church of Chicago was offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.It's unclear if such a tip led to the arrest. The family have called on the 'cowardly' gunman to turn himself in, which is what police say happened on the weekend.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2331836/Jonylah-Watkins-Chicago-gang-member-charged-murder-shot-dead-month-old-girl-dad-stole-video-game-console.html

I still think the father should be charged. William

He should be. He also should be charged with lying to police. HE KNEW WHO MURDERED HIS BABY AND REFUSED TO IDENTIFY HIM.