Cook County

Tyshawn Lee's Accused Killer Planned to Torture Young Boy Before Execution: Officials

"This was a targeted assassination," said interim Police Supt. John Escalante. "These are calculated killers whose actions define the words brutality and cowardice"

Tyshawn Lee's killer told police he had planned to kidnap and torture the 9-year-old boy before he executed the child in a Chicago alley last fall as part of a gang retaliation, law enforcement officials revealed Tuesday.  

"This was a targeted assassination," said interim Police Supt. John Escalante. "These are calculated killers whose actions define the words brutality and cowardice."

Prosecutors claim Dwright Boone-Doty, who was charged Monday in Tyshawn's Nov. 2 murder, planned to torture the young boy by cutting off his fingers and ears, but ultimately lured him into an alley and shot the child numerous times at close range. 

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Cook County Sheriff's Office
Dwright Boone-Doty, 22, has been charged in the execution-style shooting of Tyshawn Lee in Chicago's South Side.

"I must tell you today I don’t think I've ever been more disgusted and appalled by such inhumanity," Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said. "This intentional murder of Tyshawn Lee is among the worst that I have ever seen in my more than 30 years as a prosecutor."

Boone-Doty was charged with the murders of Tyshawn and Brianna Jenkins as part of what officials said was a gang war between a faction of the Black P-Stones and the "Killaward faction" of the Gangster Disciples. A judge on Tuesday ordered Boone-Doty held without bail. He and two others accused in the case, including Corey Morgan, had planned to go on a killing spree after Morgan's brother, Tracy, was killed in a shooting on Oct. 13, 2015, officials said.

After Tracy Morgan was fatally shot while in a car with his mother, prosecutors say Corey Morgan stated he was "going to kill grandmas, mothers, kids and all." That's when Morgan, Doty and another offender went out "daily, armed with guns, looking to retaliate."

Prosecutors said Tyshawn, whose father is a member of a rival gang, was playing at a park when Boone-Doty asked if he wanted to go to the store and offered to buy the child "whatever he wanted."

Once in an alley near 80th Street and Damen Avenue, Boone-Doty shot the child multiple times, prosecutors said. When asked about the shooting, Boone-Doty laughingly said he was facing the child as he shot him, saying "shorty couldn't take it no more," prosecutors allege. They also claim he planned to go back to the park Tyshawn was playing at and "shoot it up," saying he "should have killed all the kids in the park."

Boone-Doty was also in the process of writing a rap song about the killing, prosecutors said. 

"We have an unprecedented crisis on our hands," Alvarez said. 

Boone-Doty has also been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm in connection with the murder and attempted murder of Brianna Jenkins and Deshari Bowens, which took place Oct. 18, the state's attorney's office said.

Boone-Doty told authorities he saw a man with dreads in a vehicle and thought it was a rival gang member, so he opened fire on the car, killing Jenkins and injuring Bowens, Alvarez said. 

In total, Boone-Doty has been charged with five felony offenses in connection with three separate cases. He was already in custody on unrelated gun charges, according to county records. The records did not indicate if Boone-Doty had an attorney.

Police have already charged 27-year-old Corey Morgan with murder in Tyshawn's execution-style shooting but one other suspect remains uncharged. Morgan has repeatedly denied having any involvement in Tyshawn’s killing.

Tyshawn was a student at Scott Joplin School, where his teachers say he was a "delight" to have in class. He liked to play sports and video games.

"He was supposed to play ball. That's all he do, all he liked to do is play ball and play video games," Tyshawn's mother, Karla Lee, said at the time of his killing. "He didn't hurt nobody. I don't know why this happened."

Police previously said members of the community have been vital to the investigation.

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