CHICAGO (CBS) — One man was convicted on Thursday in the shooting death of 7-year-old Natalia Wallace on the 4th of July four years ago in the South Austin neighborhood, but a second man was acquitted of all charges.
According to Cook County Circuit Court records, following a bench trial earlier this year, Judge Joanne Rosado on Thursday found 35-year-old Kevin Boyd guilty of murder, aggravated battery, and aggravated discharge of a firearm in Natalia’s death.
But Rosado found co-defendant Reginald Merrill , 37, not guilty of all charges.
Two other men, 35-year-old Terrell Boyd – Kevin Boyd’s twin brother – and 27-year-old Davion Mitchell , are awaiting bench trials of their own, after all four men opted against jury trials in the case.
Police and prosecutors have said Natalia was playing in her grandmother’s front yard on the 100 block of North Latrobe Avenue shortly after 7 p.m. on July 4, 2020, when four men pulled up in a white Subaru Legacy, and three passengers got out and started shooting.