Shooting that killed 9-year-old boy, wounded 6-year-old brother in Skokie was act of

CHICAGO (CBS) — Two men charged with shooting two young brothers in Skokie, killing one of them, are accused of targeting the children with “a hailstorm of bullets” in retaliation for a fatal expressway shooting last August.

Three suspects have been arrested, and two of them have been charged, in the May 14 shooting that killed 9-year-old Jeremiah Ellis and wounded his 6-year-old brother.

Richard Banks, 22, and Christian Anderson, 16, have been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and aggravated battery in the shooting. Despite his age, Anderson is charged as an adult. Both are being held without bail.

According to Cook County prosecutors, the victims’ family told police Banks and Anderson targeted the boys because a third suspect, who has not yet been charged, was angry at the boys’ grandparents over a fatal expressway shooting that happened in August 2021, and “wanted to seek revenge for her boyfriend’s death.”

Police were tipped off about a Snapchat story that uncharged suspect had posted, stating “hoe, Ill smoke u and yo kids….yeah bitch I said yo kids,” according to a court filing by Cook County prosecutors.

Prosecutors did not provide any details about the expressway shooting that killed that suspect’s boyfriend.

On the night of May 13, Jeremiah and his brother were staying overnight at their grandparents’ home in the 4700 block of Main Street in Skokie to celebrate Jeremiah’s 9th birthday, according to prosecutors.

Meantime, Anderson, Banks, and the third suspect spent more than an hour casing the grandparents’ home that night, and then shortly after midnight on May 14, Anderson and Banks “fired a hailstorm of bullets into the television room” of the home as Jeremiah and his brother were laying on a blanket on the floor, watching TV as their grandmother slept on a nearby couch.

A total of 35 shots were fired into the home through a ground floor window, striking both boys as they were on the floor. Jeremiah suffered 11 gunshot wounds, and was taken to Evanston Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His 6-year-old brother was shot in the foot, and suffered broken toes and bones.

Evidence technicians recovered 20 9mm bullet cartridges and 15 .40-caliber shell casings from the gangway outside the home. The blanket the boys were lying on had eight bullet holes, and multiple bullet holes were found on the floor of the television room.

According to prosecutors, cell phone data showed Banks, Anderson, and the third suspect first went to the victims’ home around 6:10 p.m. on May 13, and spent about 20 minutes in the area, before going their separate ways, and returning to the victims’ home around 10:30 p.m. 

The Nissan Altima they were driving was caught on camera circling the block that night, before pulling into an alley, where they stayed for more than an hour before the shooting.

At the time of the shooting, Anderson was on probation, after he was sentenced in late March to 30 days of home confinement and 18 months probation for an armed robbery conviction.