Saquan Evans
/ file photo
SYRACUSE -- Prosecutors say the gunfire that claimed the life of a Syracuse toddler last year stemmed from a street gang feud dating back to a teenager's slaying in 1997.
The Post-Standard of Syracuse reports that Onondaga County prosecutors want the jury in Saquan Evans' upcoming murder trial to consider the history of the city's gang troubles as it relates to the November shooting death of 20-month-old Rashaad Walker Jr.
Prosecutors say Evans was out to avenge another gang-related shooting when he fired several shots into the back of a minivan where the little boy was sitting in November.
Authorities contend the shooting resulted from a longtime feud between two street gangs that dates back to the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy at a birthday party in 1997. Police say Walker Jr.’s death was also in retaliation for a shooting last November that killed 19-year-old former Henninger star athlete Kihary Blue. Blue was shot while riding in a car on Interstate 81 and died nearly a week later.
Evans is scheduled go on trial in December. He is also the defendant in a separate shooting case that took place the same month as Blue's death. Evans is accused of being the man behind a shooting that injured four young men who were standing in a garage on Shirley Drive. The victims were all hospitalized, but survived their injuries. Evans has been charged with four counts of attempted murder in that case.
Should the jury consider the city's gang history in the Walker Jr. trial, or just concentrate on this specific case? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
