Charges filed in killing of 7-year-old Jai’Mani Amir Rivera, police say
Charges were filed Friday against an underage boy in the shooting death of 7-year-old Jai’Mani Amir Rivera earlier this week, according to a police source not authorized to discuss the charges publicly.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling and Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti were expected to formally announce the charges during an evening news conference at CPD headquarters. Additional details were not immediately known.
Jai’mani was shot around 3 p.m. Tuesday in the 2300 block of West Jackson Boulevard as he walked out of his family’s apartment to visit a next-door neighbor, Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters shortly after the shooting.
Responding Chicago Police Department officers applied pressure to the boy’s chest and took him in a police vehicle to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later, officials said. An autopsy found Jai’Mani was shot in the torso, and the Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled the boy’s death a homicide. A police source said he was shot with a rifle round.
A vigil was held for Jai’Mani Wednesday in the Oakley Square apartment complex where the shooting occurred.
Vanessa Rivera, Jai’Mani’s aunt, remembered her nephew as an outgoing kid who had been looking forward to starting football.
“We didn’t lose a gang member on the streets, we lost a 7-year-old kid,” Rivera said. “The person that took my nephew’s life is going to pay for that.”
Jai’Mani was shot just a few blocks east of where 5-year-old Reign Ware was killed less than a month ago.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
