Second Man Charged In Murder Of Kimberly Underwood, Grandmother Mistaken For Rival Gang Member
CHICAGO (AP) — A second Chicago man was charged Wednesday in the death of a grandmother who was gunned down last year when she unwittingly became entangled in a dispute between rival street gangs.
Cook County prosecutors alleged Avion King, 31, and six other gunmen targeted Kimberly Underwood, 53, believing she was rival gang member, as she parked her car on Nov. 6 near her public housing apartment. King, who is charged with first-degree murder, allegedly tried to fire his AK-47-style assault weapon but was unable to do so.
King, a resident of the Altgeld Gardens public housing complex, and the others ran off in different directions, but surveillance video helped police identify him as a suspect, prosecutors said. The video also allegedly shows King before the shooting with Devante York, 27, who was charged last week in Underwood's murder.
Authorities said Underwood, a grandmother of 11, moved into the public housing complex two years earlier after she lost her restaurant manager job and was unable to keep her suburban Chicago home.
King, the father of two, suffers from schizophrenia and depression, an assistant public defender told Judge Wesley Willis, who ordered King held without bail.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.