Video Captures Courthouse Beating Of Inmate Accused of Killing Chicago Child

The girl's fatal shooting was one of three child killings in the city in just days.

The man accused of killing an 11-year-old Chicago girl was attacked by another inmate before a courthouse hearing, and it was captured on surveillance video.

Antwan Jones, 19, was pummeled as he waited for his bail hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago on Wednesday. An unidentified bystander quickly moved away, but a Cook County sheriff’s guard rushed over to grab the attacker by the waist and pull him off Jones.

Jones was charged with fatally shooting Takiya Holmes as she sat in the backseat of her family’s parked van on Chicago’s South Side last Saturday. Prosecutors said Jones and other members of the Black Disciples gang had opened fire on intruders selling drugs in their territory. One of the bullets pierced the van and struck Takiya in the head, officials told the Chicago Sun-Times. She was hit in the right temple as she sat next to her 3-year-old brother. She died in her mother’s arms after the family took her off life support Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Jones turned himself in to police on Tuesday.

The surveillance video shows Jones awaiting his appearance in court in a holding section of the courthouse, apparently handcuffed to a chair. A man wearing the clothing of a Cook County Jail inmate suddenly punches Jones a number of times in the head.

Chicago police identified the attacker as Renard Williams, 24, who is also facing murder charges. It’s not clear why the attack occurred.

Jones declined to press charges against Williams in the attack. Williams was issued a disciplinary ticket, Cook County sheriff’s spokeswoman Cara Smith told the Sun-Times. Williams has been “a challenging detainee” since he was jailed in August, according to Smith, racking up punishment for various jail infractions.

Jones was later ordered held without bail, and he was placed in protective custody at Cook County Jail. Williams continues to be held in the maximum security section of the jail.

Chicago saw 762 homicides in 2016, the highest in nearly 20 years.

Kanari Gentry-Bowers, 12, Lavontay White Jr., 2, and Takiya Holmes, 11, were fatally shot over two days in separate incidents of gang violence in Chicago.
Kanari Gentry-Bowers, 12, Lavontay White Jr., 2, and Takiya Holmes, 11, were fatally shot over two days in separate incidents of gang violence in Chicago.
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And now, just weeks into 2017, the notoriously violent city is reeling from a number of child murders as victims become trapped in the crossfire of raging gang violence or battles over drug turf. Kanari Gentry-Bowers, 12, was shot last Saturday as she played basketball. A short time later, Takiya was struck. Kanari died Wednesday.

On Tuesday, 2-year-old Lavontay White Jr. was fatally shot in the head when the car he was in riding in was ambushed in what police believe was a gang-related attack. The shooting was streamed live on Facebook.

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