A man accused of providing the gun used to kill 14-year-old Endia Martin earlier this week was ordered held Wednesday on $3 million bond. NBC5’s Christian Farr reports.
A man accused of providing the gun used to kill 14-year-old Endia Martin earlier this week was ordered held Wednesday on $3 million bond.
Prosecutors said in court that Donnell Flora, 25, gave his 14-year-old niece a loaded .38-caliber revolver and accompanied her to the Monday afternoon fight on the 900 block of West Garfield Boulevard, police said.
The 14-year-old girl accused of pulling the trigger, who was not publicly named because of her age, was charged Tuesday with four counts of first-degree murder. A 16-year-old girl was also shot in the arm, but survived her injuries.
Flora, of the 8300 block of South Buffalo Avenue, was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery/discharge of a firearm. He appeared in court Wednesday in a wheelchair, an injury sustained from a gunshot wound on June 17, 2010.
Prosecutors say Flora took a bus to the crime scene to give his niece the handgun in anticipation of the fight, and then approached the victims, provoking a verbal argument.
The girl is accused of pulling out the gun and pointing it at the aunt of the 16-year-old girl. Prosecutors say the aunt pushed the girl's hand away, at which point the alleged shooter struck the 16-year-old girl in the head with the gun. The alleged shooter then allegedly fired the weapon at the two girls as they fled into a home, hitting Martin in the back and the other girl in the arm.
Police say the teen defendant was still on the scene when they arrived, and gave the gun back to her uncle who gave it to a 17-year-old male. The teen tried to flee with the gun but was captured, according to police. He also faces charges in connection to the case.
Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said Tuesday the weapon was stolen from the legal gun owner's car on April 14. Exactly two weeks later it was used to shoot Martin in the back during an argument that authorities said concerned a boy and was fueled by comments on Facebook.
Grief counselors were available Tuesday at Tilden Career Community Academy High School, where Martin was a freshman. Friends there said the teen was small but full of energy and very enthusiastic.
A statement from the public defender representing Flora was not immediately available.
