Prosecutors: Gun in shooting of Laylah Petersen used in "killing spree" - series of shootings that same day
MILWAUKEE -- The gun that was used to shoot and kill five-year-old Laylah Petersen may have been used in several other shootings that same day -- November 6th, 2014. Prosecutors say several other kids were nearly killed as well.
Carl Barrett, Arlis Gordon, Paul Farr
Three men have been charged in the shooting death of Laylah Petersen. Their arrests and the charges filed against them were announced Tuesday, October 20th by Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn.
But there was a fourth man -- a man who hasn't been charged in this case, who was there when Laylah Petersen was shot while sitting on her grandfather's lap in a home at 58th and Fairmount.
Prosecutors say this man used the weapon that was used to kill Petersen in his own shooting spree.
Laylah Petersen
LaToya Whitney tells FOX6 News nearly one year ago, she nearly lost four of her children.
"They was all in there watching TV, and the next thing he heard was 'pow, pow, pow,'" Whitney said.
A neighbor says bullets were sprayed into the building. Miraculously, no one was hit.
Bullet marker on window of home where Laylah Petersen was shot
Nearly five miles away, on the same day (November 6th, 2014), bullets pierced the home Laylah Petersen was in. The little girl was shot in the head, and pronounced dead at the hospital.
The three people charged in this case are: 24-year-old Paul Farr, 20-year-old Carl Barrett and 23-year-old Arlis Gordon. Police say Farr and Barrett were arrested on October 14th in Milwaukee. Gordon was arrested in suburban Chicago on October 17th on unrelated charges.
Farr has been charged with two counts of harboring/aiding a felon. Barrett and Gordon have both been charged with first degree reckless homicide–party to a crime.
The criminal complaint indicates the shooting of Laylah Petersen occurred on the same day a man was acquitted in a homicide trial in Milwaukee County. The complaint says the victim in that homicide case was the brother of Arlis Gordon.
Police say following the verdict, Gordon was "very upset," and that he stated: "He killed my brother and he's getting out! This can't be going on. I'm gonna do something about it."
The complaint points out there was a fourth person with Gordon, Barrett and Farr on the night Petersen was shot.
Suspect vehicle in shooting of Laylah Petersen
22-year-old Divonte Forbes was seated in the backseat of a vehicle the men had stopped in the area of 58th and Fairmount -- when Gordon indicated he needed to get out and pick something up.
Scene at 58th and Fairmount, where Laylah Petersen was shot
Again -- Forbes has not been charged in connection with Petersen's death.
Legal experts call Forbes the "key witness" in this case -- with plenty of reason to cooperate with the prosecution.
He's facing 13 felony charges for a series of shootings he described as a "killing spree" aimed at relatives of a man Forbes had a feud with.
In the hours before and after Petersen's death, Forbes is accused of spraying bullets -- including into the home near 10th and Meinecke, nearly killing LaToya Whitney's children.
Divonte Forbes
Prosecutors say Forbes then gave the firearm to Gordon -- and that he was in the vehicle when the shooting of Laylah Petersen happened at 58th and Fairmount.
Attorney Jonathan LaVoy, who isn't involved in this case, says it's not likely Forbes will be charged in Laylah Petersen's death.
"He wasn't driving the vehicle. It didn't appear he was acting as a lookout or doing anything affirmative to involve himself in the actual homicide," LaVoy said.
Laylah Petersen