A Waukegan man has been charged with murder after prosecutors say he unintentionally fatally shot his 17-year-old friend while they were engaging in a shootout in Zion that left over 40 shots fired.
The Zion Police Department responded around 7:19 p.m. on March 30, 2024, to the 2300 and 2400 blocks of Joanna Avenue for multiple reports of gunfire.
Zion Police Department Detective Lt. Paul Kehrli said officers located a 17-year-old boy lying in the street with a gunshot wound to the neck.
Emergency lifesaving measures were rendered and the Zion Fire and Rescue Department was called to the scene.
Paramedics transported the boy to a local hospital. Kehrli said the victim, later identified as Jamaris Smith, 17, of Antioch, was listed in critical condition.
Smith was eventually transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Chicago where he died months later on September 22, 2024.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the boy’s death a result of complications from the gunshot wound to his neck.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Jeffery Facklam said officers located over 40 discharged shell casings.
The majority of the casings were recovered in the street in the area where the victim was found.
Several other casings were located up the street in front of a house. A firearm was also recovered near the victim’s body.
The firearm had a switch attached to it and was determined to have fired over 20 of the casings that were found in the roadway, Facklam said.
The other casings in the roadway near the victim were determined to have been fired from two additional guns.
The casings up the street were determined to have been fired from a fourth firearm.
Investigators recovered surveillance video from the area which showed a red car, determined to be a stolen Kia Sportage, driving up the street past West Elementary School, Facklam said.
The car was seen slowing in front of a house and then continuing down the street and through an intersection.
Two cars were in the parking lot of West Elementary School as the Kia drove past the school. The two cars exited the parking lot and drove in separate directions.
Investigators suspect that the occupants of the Kia believed that two cars that were exiting the parking lot were associated with the house they had driven past, Facklam said.
The Kia stopped after driving through the intersection and a person was seen exiting the passenger side of the car.
Muzzle flashes can be seen on the video and at least one other person was spotted exiting the driver’s side of the Kia, at which time additional muzzle flashes were seen.
Facklam said the first person who exited the car, later identified as Smith, could be seen collapsing in the street and then the others got back into the Kia before it drove off.
The occupants of the Kia were believed to be shooting at the two cars. The evidence shows that Smith was shot by one of the other occupants of the Kia while they were shooting down the street, Facklam said.
Someone was spotted on the video exiting a home on the street and firing in the direction of the Kia as the car began driving away.
A witness identified the driver of the Kia as Darris Bonner, 20, of Waukegan.
She reported she was in the car with Bonner and two others — including Smith.
Phones belonging to Bonner and Smith were seized by police and analyzed. Videos were recovered that were taken from inside a car.
Bonner, Smith and a third person are identifiable in the videos and they could be seen holding firearms, one of which matched what was recovered at the scene, Facklam said.
The final video recovered was created approximately an hour before the shooting.
Officers located the stolen Kia in Chicago a couple of days after the shooting. DNA analyzed from the car showed Bonner was very likely the driver, Facklam said.
Location data from Bonner’s cell phone showed he was using a cell tower near where the shooting took place at the time of the incident.
His location was pinged approximately two hours later to the area where the stolen Kia was recovered in Chicago.
An arrest warrant was obtained for Bonner in late June of this year charging him with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm.
Last week, Detectives assigned to the Zion Police Department’s Street Crimes Unit developed credible information that Bonner was inside an apartment in the 2100 block of Hebron Avenue in Zion.
The Zion Police Department worked with the Waukegan Police Department’s Community Crimes Division and learned that a woman, who was wanted separately for attempted murder, was also suspected to be inside the residence.
The Northern Illinois Police Alarm System’s Emergency Services Team (NIPAS EST) was activated and was seen responding through Lake County to the residence late in the afternoon last Monday.
NIPAS EST, along with detectives from the Waukegan Police Department’s Community Crimes Division, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Investigations Group, the Zion Police Department’s Street Crimes Unit and the Zion Police Department’s Tactical Response Team, converged on the residence near 21st Street and Hebron Avenue around 5 p.m.
Police worked to facilitate the surrender of Bonner and the second suspect and successfully took them into custody.
Additional search warrants resulted in the seizure of multiple firearms and firearm accessories at the apartment. Additional charges are pending.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Bonner pending trial, arguing he poses a danger to the community and there are no conditions that could mitigate the threat.
Bonner has five additional cases pending, including for possessing a stolen firearm in Wisconsin and for a burglary in Lake County.
“… the specific facts of this case involve the defendant driving a car that was in the area and appeared to [be] looking for a specific person or group of persons in the area it was driving. Upon seeing people they believed to be associated with who they were looking for, occupants of the car that defendant was driving fired over 40 shots,” Facklam said.
“The facts show a complete disregard for the safety of the community. After shooting their friend, albeit unintentionally, the defendant drove off, leaving him in the roadway suffering from his gunshot wound,” Facklam said.
Prosecutors also said Bonner, on the same day of the murder in Zion, was captured on video in North Chicago getting out of the stolen Kia and firing a shot into the air.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition and Bonner remains held in the Lake County Jail.
He is scheduled to appear in court again on August 20 for a preliminary hearing.