Elderly man charged with intentionally shooting teenager on south side
MILWAUKEE - A 75-year-old man has been charged with first degree intentional homicide, a Class A Felony, in the death of 13-year-old Darius D. Simmons.
Milwaukee police officers found Simmons Thursday morning near the corner of S. Comstock Ave. and W. Arrow St with a gunshot wound to the chest and an apparent gunshot wound to his back, according to the criminal complaint.
Officers were informed that John H. Spooner shot the teen and was subsequently arrested. Spooner had been carrying a semi-automatic handgun, placed the gun on the ground and told officers, "Yeah I shot him (referring to Simmons)."
According to the victim's mother, Patricia Larry, Spooner approached Simmons after he took out the garbage and said "he wanted his stuff back and that he wanted his shotguns back." Simmons said he didn't have Spooner's stuff or shotgun. The victim's mother said that Spooner "pulled out a gun, pointed it at Darius and fired one shot, approximately five feet away."
The victim then ran to the corner of Comstock Ave. and was shot again, according to witnesses.
The teen's mother told TODAY'S TMJ4 the neighbor killed her son because he believed her son broke into his house.
According to a statement by the teen's mother, "Somebody broke into my neighbor's house (three) days ago...And he was telling my neighbors that my son did it. My son was in school, so he killed an innocent kid."
As to mother's claim her son was shot because the 75-year-old believed the teen broke into the house. "Were looking into that now," said Milwaukee Police Lieutenant Thomas Stigler. "We have a lot more people to talk to including the suspect to find out what happened here."
Spooner is expected to go through intake court on Saturday.
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