75-year-old man charged with fatally shooting boy, 13

Everyone around W. Arrow and S. 20th streets knew John H. Spooner, the older white man who had lived there for decades, much longer than his younger Hispanic and African-American neighbors, and who was always walking his dogs around the block.

And they knew he was upset about a break-in at his house earlier this week, when burglars took some expensive shotguns and other items. He suspected his new next door neighbor.

According to a criminal complaint filed Friday: As 13-year-old Darius Simmons was moving a garbage cart from the curb Thursday morning, Spooner, 75, confronted him and demanded the boy give back his stuff and the shotguns.

Darius told him he didn't have his stuff. The boy's mother chimed in, telling Spooner he should just go back inside.

Then suddenly, as the mother watched, Spooner raised a black handgun and shot Darius in the chest from five feet away.

Darius ran around the cor ner and collapsed on Comstock Ave., about 10 feet from a small play area marked "Children's Park."

As he ran, Spooner fired a second shot that did not hit the boy. When police arrived, Spooner was still on the sidewalk, holding the gun.

When told to drop the weapon, he placed it on the ground and told police, "Yeah, I shot him."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/75yearold-man-charged-with-fatally-shooting-boy-13-2i5koou-156471825.html