ANTONIO SANTIAGO - 13 months - / Accused: Demarquis Elkins, 17 - Dominique Lang 15yo - Brunswick, GA

Young muggers shot baby in head while in stroller, mom says
By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

SWAT teams were going door-to-door in a small coastal Georgia city on Friday looking for suspects after a baby was killed and his mom shot a day earlier.

The mother, Sherry West, told FOX affiliate WAWS-TV that two boys came up to her and her 13-month-old son Antonio while she was pushing Antonio in his stroller on Thursday morning, with the older one demanding cash.

"He said, 'I'm gonna kill you if you don't give me your money,' and I said, 'I swear I don't have any,'" she told WAWS-TV of the encounter with the boys she described as being about 10 and 15 years old.

She said they wouldn't accept no for an answer. The older suspect then pointed a handgun at her, according to her account to WAWS-TV.

"He says, 'Well, I'm gonna kill your baby,'" she told WAWS-TV, crying. "I put my arms over my baby and he shoves me. And then he shot my baby right in the head."

West was shot in the leg, according to local reports. Brunswick police spokesman Todd Rhodes confirmed she received a non-life-threatening gunshot wound from a handgun during the encounter.

West was the only eyewitness to the crime, Rhodes said.

"We're not leaving any stone unturned," he said.

The baby's father, Louis Santiago, said to WAWS-TV, "Why? Why my little one? You know? You feel they could have just taken the pocketbook and go."

A $10,000 reward for any information related to the crime is being offered by the Brunswick police department, Rhodes said.

Brunswick is about 80 miles south of Savannah.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/22/17414832-young-muggers-shot-baby-in-head-while-in-stroller-mom-says?lite

I shed a tear for the little angel when I saw the mother on the video.    I hope they catch the monsters for the sake of other children.  William

Parents of slain baby speak out

BRUNSWICK, GA -- When she got back from the hospital with a bullet wound to her leg, Sherry West invited Action News into her living room still littered with items belonging to her baby boy, Antonio. The 13 month old was killed just a few hours earlier. She says it was during a robbery attempt by a couple of kids.

She says she was walking her child in his stroller just yards from their Brunswick, Georgia home at about 9 a.m.

"Two boys approached me. Two African American boys. One of them was about 15," said West. "He said, 'I'm going to kill you if you don't give me money,' and I said, 'I swear I don't have any.'"

She says the other boy appeared younger than 10 years old. The older one pointed a handgun.

Little Antonio's father, Louis Santiago, told Action News he wishes he could have been there to protect his family.

Santiago said, "He was special. He had the bluest, bluest eyes."

"I put my arms over my baby and he shoves me and then he shot my baby right in the head," said the child's tearful mother.

West said she began CPR on her baby's lifeless body while wondering to herself how a couple of boys could get their hands on a real gun. "But when I saw him shoot my baby and he died, I knew it was real," said West.

http://www.fox30jax.com/content/topstories/story/Parents-of-slain-baby-speak-out/yPcOWudQNEOIx63SsTKDww.cspx

The video is very emotional on this one. Just broke my heart. William

Brunswick baby murdered, search for suspects

BRUNSWICK Ga.-- Police shut down four blocks, including Ellis and London streets, early Friday as a massive manhunt for two boys, police say, shot and killed a 13-month-old baby boy in his stroller, then shot his mother. The move comes nearly 24 hours after the shooting.

A quiet neighborhood became ground zero for a massive manhunt Thursday morning. Police blanketed the streets of Brunswick as they searched for two boys between the ages of 10 and 15 they say shot Antonio Angel Santiago and his mother Sherry West.

The mother survived the shooting.

"This is obviously just a terrible day in the city of Brunswick," said Mayor Bryan Thompson, shocked by the senseless crime. "It's made even more terrible by the certainly senseless killing of a young child and it appears perpetrated by children themselves."

After hours of searching for the suspect and another 10-12-year-old who is believed to have been present at the shooting, the mayor is begging his community for help.

"I would like to stress and plead with people in this community right now, people are hearing my voice, if you know something about this crime, please call in any information you have," said Mayor Thompson. "If you are not sharing that information, your finger is on the trigger of that gun just as securely as that finger that was on the trigger by the actual shooter."

Police say the two suspects at large are two young black males. The suspected shooter, between the ages of 13 and 15, between 5'7" and 5'9" tall with a thin build and curly hair. It's believed he was last seen wearing a red, long sleeved shirt.

The second male they are looking for is between the ages of 10 and 12, he is described as short in stature with a black shirt.

Police are currently checking attendance records of schools to see who was not in class at the time of the shooting Thursday.

The Brunswick Police Department is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who provides information leading to the two suspects.

If you have any information, police urge you to call one of the Silent Witness lines listed below. You will remain anonymous.
Silent Witness Contacts: (912) 267-5516 or 912-264-1333

Statement from Mayor Bryan Thompson

"This is obviously just a terrible day in the city of Brunswick made even more so by the senseless killing of a young child, and it appears perpetrated by children themselves. I would like to stress and plead with people in our community right now, people who are hearing my voice and seeing us standing here, you know something about this crime. Please call in any information you have...If you have information (and) you are not sharing that information, your finger is on the trigger of that gun just as securely as that finger was on the trigger by the actual shooter. You are complicit in this crime if you have information and do not share that."

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/mostpopular/story/Brunswick-baby-murdered-search-for-suspects/ZOITMx0eKEiEwFfSCTChuA.cspx

Two Teenage Boys Arrested in Georgia Baby Shooting Death



This photo provided March 22, 2013 by Sherry West, of Brunswick, Ga., shows her son, Antonio
Santiago, celebrating his first Christmas in December of 2012.
(Courtesy of Sherry West/AP Photo)

By LAUREN EFFRON (@LEffron831)

March 22, 2013

Two teenage suspects, one as young as 14, have been arrested in the
shooting death of a 1-year-old Georgia boy, who was killed as his mother
pushed him in a stroller, police announced today.

Chief Tobe Green of the Brunswick Police Department said that Demarquis
Elkins, 17, and a 14-year-old unidentified suspect whose name has been
withheld because of his age, were arrested early this morning in
connection with the baby's death, and both have been charged with
first-degree murder.

"We are still investigating the motive, but we are trying to turn every stone to make sure we get a motive," Green said.

Green declined to provide further details, other than to say it
continued to be an open investigation, and that no weapon had yet been
recovered.

Under Georgia law, Elkins is considered an adult, Green said, but the younger suspect is considered a minor.

"We are still following up on leads from our witnesses and are still
involved in collecting evidence," Green said. Search warrants had been
issued at three locations near Brunswick, which has a population of
about 15,500 people.

Brunswick police, along with a SWAT team and various agencies, had
launched a vast manhunt across the Glynn County area in search of the
two teenage suspects after the shooting on Thursday morning.

Sherry West, the 41-year-old mother of the child, told police she'd been
walking her 13-month-old son, Antonio, in a stroller Thursday morning
through their Brunswick, Ga., neighborhood when two African-American
boys approached her and demanded money. When she told them she didn't
have any money, West said one of the boys pulled out a handgun.

"He said, 'I'm going to kill you if you don't give me money,' and I
said, 'I swear I don't have any,"' West told WAWS-TV in Jacksonville, Fla.

West said she tried to shield her child with her arms, but the gunman
shoved her and shot the baby in the head. West was shot in the leg.

Going on West's description, police said they began looking for two
African-American boys between the ages of 10 and 15 years old since
Thursday. No details about how the suspects were arrested were given.

Officer Todd Rhodes, a spokesman for the Brunswick Police Department,
confirmed that the weapon used in the shooting was a handgun but
declined to describe it further.

Since the shooting, police said 30 different leads had been called into
the Brunswick Police Department and the Glynn County Police Department,
or were submitted through email. Police said the Glynn County School
Board Campus Police had been assisting law enforcement in combing school
attendance records for leads.


http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-boys-arrested-georgia-baby-shooting-death/story?id=18790997#.UUzd9ldFPdd

This makes me sick to my stomach. Incomprehensible. So young, so evil.

Posted: 6:05 p.m. Saturday, March 23, 2013
Anger, disbelief grip Brunswick after toddler’s shooting

By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

BRUNSWICK —

How could two teenage boys shoot a sleeping baby, Kimberly Anderson was still wondering a couple of days after hearing gunshots and a distraught, wailing mother outside her home here.

Since Thursday morning, when a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old allegedly shot 13-month-old Antonio Santiago, Anderson and others in the usually quiet neighborhood in this coastal city have been trying to wrap their minds around a senseless crime that has been played out over and over in the media.

Anderson was the first person to arrive at what would become an unspeakably grim crime scene near the edge of her yard after hearing gun shots and Sherry West screaming that her baby had been shot.

“I don’t think I’ve processed the whole thing,” Anderson said Saturday.

Time is not making it any easier, either.

In Brunswick, a town of 15,000 residents off I-95 in southeast Georgia near St. Simons Island, neighbors initially shared rumors about who was responsible and feared how the community would react. After Brunswick police announced Friday the arrest on murder charges of De’marquis Elkins, 17, and a 14-year-old whose name was not released, anger continued to simmer over the brutality of an infant shot to death in his stroller.

Police had few new details to share Saturday about the suspects or what happened.

But a harrowing recording of 911 calls obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recounts a frenetic scene in which an unidentified man describes a baby “shot between the eyes.”

In interviews with the AJC and other media, Antonio’s parents have expressed outrage.

West said the two teenagers approached her asking for money. When she told them she had none, the older teen pulled out a gun, she said.

West said he pointed the gun at the ground and pulled the trigger but nothing happened. Then he pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger again and that time a bullet grazed her left ear. She said he shot her a second time in the left thigh and asked if she wanted him to kill her baby. She told him again that she had no money, and that is when Antonio was shot while he slept in his stroller, she said.

“We are looking for additional evidence (and) aggressively looking for a weapon,” said Officer Todd Rhodes, spokesman for the Brunswick Police Department.

The randomness of the shooting has shaken the neighborhood, which is a mix of abandoned and renovated antique homes.

There was a memorial of stuffed animals, candles, balloons and a pillow with “now I lay me down to sleep” in cross stitch. But when the rain started early Saturday afternoon, Wally Mathis collected all the items except for a bouquet of flowers and delivered them to Antonio’s father, Luis Santiago, who was arrested and jailed briefly after the shooting when his grief overwhelmed him and he began screaming at West, blaming her for their son’s death.

“I’m not upset with the boys,” Santiago said Saturday of the two teenagers charged with killing his son. “They didn’t have a good upbringing.”

He has lots of questions, but they are mostly for West. “Why did you go that way?” Santiago asked. He said he frequently told her to take another route when she walked their son in a neighborhood that has public housing projects on each end of the street.

Does he blame West? “Hell, yes, I do,” Santiago said.

But it’s the accused killers who are to blame, neighbors said, and what makes it even harder to understand is their ages.

At first, Anderson said, she was sad when she thought about “children killing children.” Then someone sent her a link to the suspect Elkin’s Facebook page (since taken down) on which he boasted, using a racial slur, that he and his friends would “turn your neighborhood into a murder scene.”

“That infuriates me,” Anderson said. “How can he be so callous? How can you have a family of your own and be raised by a mother and have no regard for human life? He was looking for it. When he left with a gun, he had every intention of shooting somebody.”

Anderson said that realization tested her as a recovering alcoholic. The first call she made when she got home after talking to police was to her sponsor at Alcoholics Anonymous, Anderson said, to fight against the “resentment and fear” that could have pushed her to take a drink.

She went to a meeting instead.

Alisha Jones walked two of her children down the street to look at the memorial to Antonio Saturday morning so she could answer her girls’ questions.

“It makes you wonder what their home life is like. Why they thought it was OK to carry a gun,” Jones said, sitting on a porch within sight of the corner where the toddler was shot.

“‘Those bad people who did this thing need to have the same thing happen to them,’” Jones said her 8-year-old daughter said. “I said, ‘Gabrielle, we don’t do that. They have to go to court.’”

But she said she worries about the attackers’ apparent lack of understanding about the value of human life.

Katherine Colicchil was keeping detailed notes in a spiral notebook for a letter she plans to send her 21-year-old daughter in California who, Colicchil said, thinks she’s invincible. Colicchil is especially worried because her 20-year-old niece was shot and killed by a 14-year-old robbing a dry cleaners in the early 1990s.

“It hits home,” Colicchil said.

The slain child’s mother, West, spent time Saturday gathering up her son’s things — some to be donated and some to be packed away. The boy who loved Mickey Mouse and fried chicken was cremated, and West had them dispose of the ashes.

“I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing him in a box,” West said. The last time she saw her son was when he was put in an ambulance.

West said she wants to go home soon to New Jersey, where she has two brothers and a daughter — even though it’s where another son of hers was stabbed to death at age 18 five years ago.

“The 17-year-old shot my baby,” West said, sitting in her living room with two neighbors there for comfort. “I hope he dies like my baby died.”

http://m.ajc.com/news/news/anger-disbelief-grip-brunswick-after-toddlers-shoo/nW233/

AP/ March 23, 2013, 4:52 PM
Mother confident teen suspect gunned down her baby

BRUNSWICK, Ga. The mother of a baby gunned down in his stroller says she has no doubt a teenage suspect is the man who killed her 13-month-old son, but family members say he wasn't anywhere near the scene.

"That's definitely him," Sherry West said Saturday when she saw the jail mugshot of 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins, who is charged as an adult with first-degree murder. Police also arrested a 14-year-old who has not been identified because he's a minor.

"We're trying to determine which one actually was the shooter," police spokesman Todd Rhodes said Saturday.

Ga. police arrest two teens in shooting that left mother wounded, infant dead
Two teens sought in shooting that left mother wounded, infant dead, police say

But West said she was certain the gunman was the older suspect. "He killed my baby, and he shot me, too," she said.
On Thursday morning, West was pushing Antonio Santiago in his stroller after a trip to the post office. She said a teen, accompanied by a smaller boy, asked her for money.

"And he kept asking, and I just said, `I don't have it.' And he said, `Do you want me to kill your baby?' And I said, `No, don't kill my baby!"' she said.

One of the teens fired four shots, then walked around to the stroller and shot the baby in the face.

Police announced the arrests of Elkins and the 14-year-old Friday afternoon. But Katrina Freeman, Elkins' aunt, said Saturday that he couldn't be the killer because the two were together at the time of the shooting.

Freeman said Elkins dropped by her home about 8:15 a.m. — roughly an hour before the shooting — and she cooked them grits, eggs and sausage for breakfast.

They stayed at her home until about 11 a.m., Freeman said, and then Elkins accompanied her and her children on some errands for about an hour. After noon, he left for classes he's taking to earn his GED, she said.

"He was with us the whole time," said Freeman, adding that she gave police the same account of her nephew's whereabouts. "There is no doubt in my mind that he is innocent."

Brunswick police have said little about what evidence led them to Elkins or the younger suspect. Police spokesman Todd Rhodes said Saturday that he's not surprised Elkins' aunt would try to protect him.

"That's what she's saying, but the evidence we're looking at says something else," Rhodes said. He would not elaborate. He said investigators still can't say what motivated the shootings.

Elkins' older sister said her brother had been living in Atlanta and returned to Brunswick only a few months ago. On Friday morning, as her brother made his way along the sidewalk to her home, police came to her door, she said.

"The police came pointing a Taser at him, telling him to get on the ground," she said. "He said, `What are you getting me for? Can you tell me what I did?"'

On Saturday, police released recordings of three 911 calls made by West's neighbors right after the shooting.

One caller, sobbing, tells the operator she heard three gunshots. The woman says she saw the mother lay the child on the ground to try to revive him with CPR.

"Yes, I heard the shots. Somebody shot this child," the caller said. "She's got him on the ground. Please, we need everything we can get."

One caller solemnly tells an operator: "No, the baby's not breathing." He says the child was shot "right between the eyes."

A woman can be heard screaming in the background just before police arrive and sirens drown out her cries.

No callers reported seeing the shootings, and police said the three calls were the only ones they knew of.

At her apartment Saturday, West had filled several bags with her son's clothes and diapers to donate to charity. She said she hopes prosecutors pursue the death penalty in the case.

"My baby will never be back again," West said, sobbing. "He took an innocent life. I want his life, too."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57575968/mother-confident-teen-suspect-gunned-down-her-baby/

March 25, 2013 9:47 AM
Antonio Santiago Shooting: Anonymous tip led to arrests in Georgia baby's murder, police say

(CBS/AP) BRUNSWICK, Ga. - An anonymous tip helped authorities make arrests in the shooting death of a Georgia baby who was killed in a stroller, police said Sunday.


The Brunswick Police Department said they received a tip that someone was crouched in the back seat of a vehicle as it drove away from the shooting on Thursday.

The Glynn County detective's division spent hours following up on the tip and eventually arrested a 14-year-old suspect. The boy's statements led them to take 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins into custody.

Elkins is charged with murder in the death of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. The baby's mother, Sherry West, said she was walking home when Elkins and a younger boy approached and asked her for money.

Elkins' family said he did not shoot the baby.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57576067-504083/antonio-santiago-shooting-anonymous-tip-led-to-arrests-in-georgia-babys-murder-police-say/



De'Marquise Elkins
/ AP Photo/Courtesy of the Glynn County Detention Center

I see this all the time here and in the Chicago area. "my son could never do that", bull shit. Happens all the time. These boys were probably from gangs in the Atlanta area. Hope they find the gun and really get good evidence to convict them. Especially the death penality for the shooter. William

March 25, 2013 12:10 PM
Antonio Santiago Shooting: Suspects in Georgia baby's murder face first court appearances



Shooting suspect De'Marquise Elkins and victim Antonio Santiago, both inset against crime scene in Brunswick, Ga. / CBS

(CBS/AP) BRUNSWICK, Ga. - One suspect in the shooting death of a Georgia baby who was killed in his stroller has made his first court appearance, and a second suspect faces a court hearing later.

A 15-year-old charged as an adult with murder in the fatal shooting of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago appeared in court Monday morning, CBS affiliate WTEV reports.

At the hearing, Glynn County Magistrate Tim Barton told the boy he couldn't set a bond because only Superior Court judges can do so in murder cases, the Florida Times-Union reports.

"I'm going to see that you get a lawyer immediately," Barton told the teen.

The 15-year-old was in the eighth grade at Glynn Middle School before his arrest, said Jim Weidhaas, a spokesman for the Glynn County school system.

According to the station, a second suspect, 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins, was scheduled to be in court at 2 p.m. Monday. He also faces a murder charge.

Elkins was last a student in the system in October 2011 when he left Ombudsman, an outsourced alternative school program, Weidhaas said.

"My client is absolutely, 1,000-percent not guilty," public defender Kevin Gough, who represents 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins, told The Associated Press Monday.

Police in Brunswick say an anonymous tip helped them to apprehend the younger boy after the Thursday shooting death of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. Authorities say the boy's statements led them to take Elkins into custody. Elkins' family says he did not shoot the baby.

The baby's mother, Sherry West, said she was walking home when two boys confronted her, demanded money, then killed her child and wounded her.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57576112-504083/antonio-santiago-shooting-suspects-in-georgia-babys-murder-face-first-court-appearances/

You can see in the pictures that the older one has no emotion, no soul, just evil in his eye's. Sad that he could value life as nothing at his age. William

March 26, 2013 11:23 AM Antonio Santiago Shooting Update:
Mother, aunt of suspect in Georgia baby's murder arrested

(CBS/AP) BRUNSWICK, Ga. - The mother and aunt of one of the Georgia teenagers charged with murder in a baby's shooting were arrested Tuesday morning for allegedly lying to police, The Florida Times-Union reports.

According to the newspaper, Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said 36-year-old Karimah Elkins, the mother of 17-year-old De'Marquise Kareem Elkins, and 33-year-old Katrina Elkins were arrested on felony charges of making false statements to police.

Both women reportedly posted the $1,104 bail, but only Karimah Elkins was released because Katrina is being held on a probation violation charge.

De'Marquise Elkins and 15-year-old Dominique Lang are charged in last Thursday's shooting of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago who was in his stroller on a walk with his mother, Sherry West, who was also shot. Both teens, charged as adults, made their first court appearances Monday.

Sherry West said she was walking home when two boys confronted her to try to rob her and one of them opened fire. Police say she was shot in the leg, and her baby was shot in face.

West has said she picked the gunman out of a photo lineup of 24 mugshots and insists he killed her baby.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57576321-504083/antonio-santiago-shooting-update-mother-aunt-of-suspect-in-georgia-babys-murder-arrested/

You just can't lie to the police to protect your evil son or relative. They have to serve their punishment. William

Guess it runs in the family.

March 26, 2013 2:06 PM Antonio Santiago Shooting Update:
Information from suspect's mother, aunt leads police to gun, link sought to baby's killing
(CBS) Police say new information from the mother and aunt of a suspect in last Thursday's deadly shooting of a Georgia baby led them to a handgun submerged in a body of water.

Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said investigators located the weapon Tuesday after arresting 36-year-old Karimah Elkins, the mother of De'Marquise Elkins, and 33-year-old Katrina Elkins, his aunt, for making false statements to police. Doering says after their arrest, the women made additional statements which led investigators to witnesses and eventually to the weapon, which was found in a small pond.

Police are still trying to determine if the weapon is connected to the shooting.

Both women have reportedly posted $1,104 bail, but only Karimah Elkins was released because Katrina is being held on a probation violation charge.

De'Marquise Elkins, 17, and a 15-year-old are charged as adults with murder in the shooting of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago while he was in his stroller on a walk with his mother, Sherry West, who was also shot. Both teens made their first court appearances Monday.

Katrina Elkins told reporters Saturday that her nephew couldn't have killed the child because he was at her house having breakfast, according to The Associated Press.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57576362-504083/antonio-santiago-shooting-update-information-from-suspects-mother-aunt-leads-police-to-gun-link-sought-to-babys-killing/

I guess the mother and aunt did hide information and lie to the police. Hopefully they will find finger prints on the gun and ballistics will confirm it's the weapon used. They can't lie out of that. William

Police: Handgun found 2 miles from where Georgia baby shot dead


Glynn County Detention Center/AP

De'Marquise Elkins, 17, one of two teenagers arrested last Friday and accused of fatally shooting a 13-month-old baby in the face and wounding his mother during their morning stroll in Brunswick, Ga

By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

Investigators in Georgia have discovered a handgun submerged in a marsh, a week after a baby was shot to death in the small coastal town.

The handgun was found in a pond off a highway, 2.3 miles away from the crime scene in Brunswick, Ga., Brunswick police spokesman Todd Rhodes said Thursday. No weapon had been found up until this point.

Two teen suspects were arrested last weekend in the case, a day after 13-month-old Antonio Santiago was killed and his mother was shot in the leg, The are charged with murder.

The handgun was sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Crime Lab for analysis. Police did not provide a description of the weapon.

Also Thursday, police announced they arrested the sister of De'Marquise Elkins, the older of the two suspects in custody.
Sabrina Elkins, De'Marquis Elkins' 19-year-old sister, is the third relative of his to be held in custody in connection with the investigation. Sabrina Elkins was taken into custody on a bench warrant for tampering with evidence, police said.

On Tuesday, Elkins' mother and aunt were arrested on charges of making false statements to police and concealing facts or providing fraudulent documents in matters of government.

Elkins, 17, and his co-defendant, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, have both been charged as adults. Authorities were still unclear about a possible motive for the alleged crime; police said Thursday in a press release that they believed "it appears at this time that the incident was a random act."

The only eyewitness to the shooting was baby Antonio's mother, Sherry West. West said she was walking Antonio in his stroller when two teens came up to her demanding money. When she told them she didn't have any cash on her, the older one pointed a handgun at her, she said.

"He says, 'Well, I'm gonna kill your baby,'" West said last week. "I put my arms over my baby and he shoves me. And then he shot my baby right in the head."

Both Elkins and Lang's relatives have denied to local media that either of them could have committed the crime. West picked the alleged gunman out of a photo lineup of 24 mugshots, and insists Elkins is the killer.

Before Elkins' first court appearance on Monday, public defender Kevin Gough, who represents him, told The Associated Press, "My client is absolutely, 1,000 percent not guilty."

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/28/17502703-police-handgun-found-2-miles-from-where-georgia-baby-shot-dead?lite

Yea, right. If he's not guilty then why is three of his relatives trying to cover up evidence, lying to police, giving false evidence????? William

Police find bullet fired in Ga. baby killing
Posted: March 28, 2013 - 3:21pm



A Glynn County Sheriff's Deputy directs 15 year-old Dominique Lang out of the courtroom in the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga. after Lang's first appearance hearing in Magistrate Court Monday, March 25, 2013. Lang and 17-year-old Demarquise Elkins were arrested Friday, March 23 and are charged with murder in the shooting of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago, who was in his stroller on a walk with his mother, Sherry West, who was also shot. Both suspects are charged as adults. (AP Photo/Brunswick News, Bobby Haven)

By JEFF MARTIN

ATLANTA (AP) — Investigators are looking at a possible gang tie in the slaying of a Georgia toddler and said Thursday that a bullet used in the shooting has been recovered.

More search warrants were executed Wednesday night, though Glynn County Police Chief Matt didn't say specifically what evidence might have been found.

The chief did reveal Thursday that investigators have recovered the bullet they believe was fired in the killing of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago as his mother strolled him down a sidewalk on March 21 in Brunswick, a town on Georgia's coast. The bullet and a .22-caliber handgun, which was found submerged in a pond 2 miles from the crime scene, are now being analyzed at a crime lab.

Two teenagers have been charged as adults with murder and other counts.

When asked directly whether it's possible the shooting was a part of a gang initiation, Doering wouldn't go that far, saying investigators are exploring "whether gang involvement is part of this."

Police are concerned about the safety of witnesses in the emotionally charged case, the chief said. However, he pleaded with people who have information to come forward, and to put aside their fears in the interest of justice.

"We know there are still witnesses out there, people who have information," Doering said.
An indictment returned this week accuses 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins of shooting the toddler in the face.

Elkins' attorney, Kevin Gough, has said his client is "absolutely, 1,000 percent not guilty."

A second suspect, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, is also charged with murder, though prosecutors say they believe it was Elkins who shot the child and wounded his mother in an attempted robbery.

The police chief said attempted robbery charges also were filed but nothing was taken during the killing. It still appears the slaying was random, Brunswick police said.

The few details contained in the indictment seem to back up the story the slain baby's mother, Sherry West, has repeated to numerous reporters: She was pushing her baby in a stroller when two youths approached asking for money. West says when she refused, the older teen drew a gun and shot her in the leg before shooting her son in the head.

District Attorney Jackie Johnson said she would not seek the death penalty against either suspect because Georgia law doesn't allow capital punishment for defendants charged with crimes committed before they were 18. Elkins was also indicted on two counts in a second attempted robbery and shooting that happened 10 days before the baby was slain.

The suspect's mother, Karimah Elkins, and older sister, Sabrina Elkins, were charged with evidence tampering. The indictment says they threw the revolver that police suspect was used in the shooting into a saltwater pond where investigators recovered it Tuesday.

Karimah Elkins and the suspect's aunt, Katrina Elkins, were also charged with making false statements to police.

http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2013-03-28/police-find-bullet-fired-ga-baby-killing

Brunswick commissioner jailed in baby killing investigation
Posted: March 29, 2013 - 9:08am
By Terry Dickson | Morris News Service

BRUNSWICK - City Commissioner James Henry Brooks Sr. has been charged with influencing a witness and obstructing the investigation of the fatal shooting of a baby and wounding of his mother March 21.

Brooks, also charged with racketeering in unrelated cases in Camden County, was booked into the Glynn County jail.
He was at the Glynn County Courthouse Monday when the mother of murder defendant De'Marquise Elkins left the courthouse after her son's initial court appearance. As Karimah Elkins and another woman walked from the courthouse, a county police investigator tried to speak with her. Brooks stepped between them and prevented the officer from speaking with the mother, officials said.

A bail of $1,256 has been set on the obstruction charge, but there is no bail on the charge of influencing witnesses, authorities said.

Karimah Elkins, 36, was later arrested, questioned and charged in the case.

She and Sabrina Shanae Nicole Elkins, 19, her daughter and the sister of murder defendant De’Marquise Elkins, 17, remain in jail on felony tampering-with-evidence charges

Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said Thursday the investigation has uncovered more evidence and identified more witnesses, but appealed for more help from the public.

“You know your neighbors. People who trust other people are more likely to talk to them,” said Doering, flanked by Sheriff Neal Jump and Brunswick Police Chief Tobe Green. “If you get that information, let us know. Some have done so, but we know there is more out there.”

Karimah Elkins’ sister, Katrina Elkins, had been in the jail on a charge of making false statements to police but has been transferred to Henry County on a probation violation warrant, Jump said. Should that issue be resolved, she will be sent back to Glynn County, where police have a hold order for her.

Jail records indicate that no bail has been set for Sabrina and Karimah Elkins
De’Marquise Elkins, his three family members and 15-year-old Dominique Lang all were indicted Wednesday in the shooting death of 13-month-old Antonio Angel Santiago. The two teenage males are charged with murder; the Elkins women all face charges stemming from actions in the days and hours after the baby’s death.

Sabrina Elkins and Karimah Elkins were arrested Wednesday on a grand jury indictment for evidence tampering in dumping a handgun believed to be the murder weapon.

“We know who; we know when; we know where; and we know how the firearm was hidden, transported and disposed of,” Doering said. “She was part of that and that’s the most I can answer.”

Sabrina Elkins and her mother are accused of throwing a .22-caliber revolver into a marsh pond. The indictment says it was the weapon used to shoot West and her baby and in the attempted robbery and shooting of a man March 11.

Karimah Elkins alone was indicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Doering declined to say who owned the vehicle that was used to take the .22-caliber pistol to the pond where searchers found it Tuesday morning.

Karimah and Katrina Elkins made false statements to police by providing phony alibis for De’Marquise, the indictment says.

The slaying of Antonio was a tragedy but so is the fact that people know things that would help police but aren’t telling them, Doering said.

“Family members knew what happened and chose to cover it up,’’ he said.

Doering also said that police are trying to trace ownership of the gun.

“The mother was a convicted felon. You can’t possess a firearm as a convicted felon. I’ll leave it at that,’’ he said.

Doering also said one bullet was recovered from Antonio’s body but would not say if it was found during an autopsy.

He said the pistol and the bullet are both at a Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab for testing.

Anyone with information about the case may contact the Brunswick Police Department Silent Witness line at (912) 267-5516 or the Glynn County Police Department Silent Witness line at (912) 264-1333. Information may also be sent by email to bpdtips@brunswickpolice.org.

Times-Union writer Dan Scanlan contributed to this report.

http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2013-03-29/brunswick-commissioner-jailed-baby-killing-investigation

Guess it does run in the family. The mother of one is a convicted felon. Why does she have access to a gun? William

Judge wants trial in baby killing before year ends

Posted: April 5, 2013 - 11:32am
By RUSS BYNUM

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia judge says he wants a trial before the year ends for a teenager charged with fatally shooting a baby in the face.

Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kelley told attorneys in the case Friday he expects a 2013 trial for 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins. The suspect is charged with malice murder in the slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago two weeks ago in the coastal city of Brunswick. Police say the child was shot as Elkins and a younger teenager tried to rob the boy's mother.

The judge denied Elkins' request for bond Friday, saying he's concerned the suspect might flee.

Elkins' great grandfather, McKinley Elkins, tried to assure the judge that if the teenager was released on bond he would be "a gentleman from this day forward."

http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2013-04-05/judge-wants-trial-baby-killing-year-ends

"a gentleman from this day forward." He kills a sleeping baby but will be a gentleman from this day forward. This family is pathetic. Lying to the police, hiding evidence. At least the judge denied bail. William

Attorney wants separate trials in Brunswick baby killing
Posted: April 9, 2013 - 6:14pm
By Russ Bynum | The Associated Press

SAVANNAH - The defense attorney for a 15-year-old charged with felony murder in a baby's slaying in Georgia says he should be tried separately from an older teen accused of shooting the toddler in the face.

Attorney Kimberly L. Copeland said Tuesday she believes her client, Dominique Lang, is "more of a witness than a defendant."

Copeland says she's afraid Lang would automatically be found guilty if the same jury also chose to convict 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins. Authorities say he was the gunman.

Both teenagers are charged in Brunswick with the March 21 slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago, who was shot in the face as he sat in his stroller. Police say the baby and his mother were attacked in an attempted street robbery.

http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2013-04-09/attorney-wants-separate-trials-brunswick-baby-killing

They will try any tricks now to get the monsters off. They both should pay with their lives. William

Teens Pleads Not Guilty in Ga. Baby Slaying
By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press
BRUNSWICK, Ga. April 18, 2013 (AP)

A coastal Georgia teenager has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the slaying of a baby that authorities say was shot in the face during an attempted robbery on a street.

Court records show 15-year-old Dominique Lang waived arraignment before a judge Thursday in Brunswick and entered his plea in writing. Attorneys told the judge a second suspect, 17-year-old De'Marquise (day-mahr-KEESE) Elkins, had also waived arraignment but there was no record of his written plea in the court file.

Elkins' attorney, Kevin Gough, declined to comment.

The suspects are charged in the March 21 slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. Authorities say Elkins shot the child in his stroller as he and Lang tried to rob the baby's mother.

Both teenagers have been charged as adults.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/teens-pleads-guilty-ga-baby-slaying-18988239

2 teens plead not guilty in Ga. baby slaying
RUSS BYNUM Associated Press
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Two Georgia teenagers pleaded not guilty Thursday to murdering a baby who was shot in the face during what authorities described as an attempted street robbery.

Both De'Marquise Elkins, 17, and Dominique Lang, 15, are charged as adults. Authorities say Elkins fatally shot 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in his stroller as Elkins and Lang tried to rob the child's mother March 21 on the street a few blocks from her Brunswick apartment.

They entered their pleas in writing and waived arraignment before a judge that was scheduled for Thursday morning.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Kelley has said he wants a trial before the end of the year. Prosecutors weren't allowed to consider seeking the death penalty because Georgia law prohibits it for defendants charged with crimes before age 18.

The baby's mother, Sherry West, has said she was pushing her son in his stroller a few blocks from her apartment in Brunswick along the Georgia coast when two youths approached asking for money. When she refused, she said, one of them drew a gun and shot her in the leg before shooting her baby in the face.

An indictment charging Elkins on nine counts, including malice murder, identified him as the person authorities accuse of pulling the trigger. Lang was charged with seven counts, including felony murder, as an accomplice. Both face life in prison if convicted.

Police arrested both teenagers within a day of the shooting. Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering has said information from Elkins' mother and older sister helped lead investigators to a small saltwater pond where they recovered a .22-caliber handgun suspected of being used in the slaying.

Elkins has also been charged in a second shooting and robbery attempt 10 days before the baby was killed. An indictment says Elkins pointed a gun at Wilfredo Calix-Flores while demanding his cellphone and wallet, then shot the man in the arm with the same caliber gun used to kill the baby.


http://ap.savannahnow.com/pstories/state/ga/20130418/1125416731.shtml

That last paragraph is disturbing. Too bad he was not caught before he killed the little baby. Sure show's his guilt. William

Judge sets tentative date in baby killing trial
The Associated Press

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A judge has set a tentative trial date for two teenagers facing charges in the killing of a baby near the Georgia coast.

Brunswick Judicial Circuit Judge Stephen Kelley tentatively scheduled an Aug. 19 trial date in the slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago.

The Brunswick News reports ( http://bit.ly/19oNBKx ) that the date was set during a status conference hearing Wednesday.

De'Marquise Elkins and Dominique Lang face murder charges in the March 21 killing. Both suspects have pleaded not guilty.

Authorities say Elkins shot the child in the face as he sat in his stroller. The boys are accused of trying to rob the child's mother on the street a few blocks from her Brunswick apartment. The mother, Sherry West, was wounded by gunfire but survived.

http://ap.savannahnow.com/pstories/state/ga/20130530/1142720581.shtml

You won't recognize me. My name was Antonio Santiago and I was the 13-month old child who was shot at point blank range by two teens who were attempting to rob my mother, who was also shot. A Grand Jury of my mommy's peers from Brunswick GA determined the teens who murdered me will not face the death penalty...too bad I was given a death sentence for being innocent and defenseless.
 
My family made the mistake of being white in a 73% non-white neighborhood, but my murder was not ruled a Hate Crime. Nor did President Obama take so much as a single moment to acknowledge my murder.
 
I am one of the youngest murder victims in our great Nation's history, but the media doesn't care to cover the story of my tragic demise, President Obama has no children who could possibly look like me - so he doesn't care and the media doesn't care because my story is not interesting enough to bring them ratings so they can sell commercial time slots.
 
There is not a white equivalent of Al Sharpton because if there was he would be declared racist, so there is no one rushing to Brunswick GA to demand justice for me. There is no White Panther party to put a bounty on the lives of those who murdered me. I have no voice, I have no representation and unlike those who shot me in the face while I sat innocently in my stroller - I no longer have my life.
 
So while you are seeking justice for Treyvon, please remember to seek justice for me too. Tell your friends about me, tell you families, get tee shirts with my face on them and make the world pay attention, just like you did for Treyvon.
 
Thank you.
 
https://www.facebook.com/HelpUsPreventChildAbuse
 
Sad that they won't get the death penalty.  Child killers should get death.  Death for a death.

How true! How terribly sad. I have a scar from stitches I got on the back of my head because rocks were thrown at me and my friends. That wasn't a hate crime either. Actually we didn't have anything as stupid as a hate crime back then; just some bad people with resentment.

I'd like to have a T-shirt with Antonio's picture.

This was a horrible, senseless crime.  However, it has nothing to do with Trayvon.  The monsters who murdered this precious baby were arrested.  That didn't happen when Trayvon was murdered until there was a huge public outcry. 

These men may not face the DP but they will never walk free again.  They belong in prison and they will remain in prison.

Our US Supreme Court has determined that criminals this age will not be executed. 

Trayvon was 17 years and 3 weeks when he was executed, too young to be executed by the state, but not too young to be executed by Zimmerman.

Trayvon was not executed. I watched the trial, did you? That whole trial was nothing more than a racially fueled sham.

Yes, i watched the trial.  We disagree.