A 17-year-old boy charged with shoots 15-year-old Phillip Mitchell to death in the Grand Crossing neighborhood earlier this summer was ordered into custody Saturday.
Several witnesses and school employees identified the teenager, Latoby Baines, as the person shown on surveillance footage who fired a gun that killed Mitchell near the street in the 7100 block of South King Drive on July 10, authorities told a Cook County judge during a detention hearing at Leighton Criminal Court Building.
Baines was charged as an adult with first-degree murder in connection with Mitchell’s death, after Chicago police and the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested him Thursday in the 700 block of East 132nd Street. He was staying with his girlfriend, which officers discovered during their investigation, according to an arrest report.
The report stated that Baines had no other warrants, was not on parole or probation at the time of the shooting. He was also not in a gang, the report added.
Prosecutors said Baines fired shots at Mitchell with a handgun, hitting him in the head and torso.
Police reviewed a city surveillance camera that at 5:40 p.m. captured two men dressed in black clothing approaching the victim in front of a restaurant and having a confrontation, according to a police incident report. One of the men, who was wearing a white face mask, then pulled a gun and fired six shots at the victim before fleeing north on King Drive.
All six shots hit Mitchell, a Grand Crossing resident, who was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide.
Ordering Baines in custody, Judge David Kelly said electronic monitoring or home confinement would not be appropriate because he is not confident Baines’ ability to comply and he posed too great a risk to the community.
Baines returns to court on Tuesday.