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South Side men found guilty of 2009 murder

Two South Side men were found guilty March 26 in the 2009 drive-by shooting of a 9-year-old Englewood girl who was washing her dogs on the front lawn of her father’s South Side home.

After two hours of deliberation, the jury found Kevin “Big Stupid” Stanley, 31, and Ronald “Gucci Man” Henderson, 33, guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder in a drug-related turf war.

Chastity Turner. Photo from Findagrave.com
Chastity Turner. Photo from Findagrave.com

The victim, Chastity Turner, was the daughter of Andre Turner, 34, the gunmen’s intended target. The girl’s father was a member of the Gangster Disciples, as South Side gang.

During the trial, Turner testified that he was the “shot caller” who oversaw crack cocaine sales on the block.

Neighbor Donese Robertson, 38, testified as an eyewitness against Stanley and Henderson on March 19.

Robertson said she took two children she had been babysitting to a neighbor’s house for a small party on June 24, 2009, where she said 8–15 people, including at least four children, were present. She said she took the children to have a water balloon fight and snow cones because it was hot outside.

According to Robertson, the victim was washing her pit bulls when Stanley and Henderson pulled up to the home in a blue-green van. She said a gunman was “hanging out of the van” shooting at the people on the front porch and yard. Robertson identified the shooter as Stanley and added that she had known him for 4-5 years.

Robertson said she saw a second shooter seated inside the van and firing a weapon through the vehicle’s side door.

Robertson said she met with Chicago Police Department Detective Tim O’Brien to identify the shooters late on the night of the shooting. She also identified Stanley as the shooter in a lineup at a police station in August 2009.

According to a Sun-Times report, Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Lattanzio said Stanley and Henderson were aware that the victim was seated near their intended target, but that did not stop them from opening fire.

“The motive was greed and taking control of the block,” Lattanzio said in the Sun-Times report. “Money sales were No. 1. Drug sales were No. 1.”

Lattanzio said it did not matter who was in the front yard.

“Who gets killed?” he asked in the Sun-Times report. “The most innocent of them all.”

According to a Chicago Tribune report, Lakeisha Edwards, the victim’s mother, gave the girl permission to spend the week with Turner because she had done well at summer school.

“It feels good because I finally get a chance to see justice served,” Edwards said in the Tribune story.

A third suspect, Davionne Whitfield, 22, awaits trial. Witnesses testified they saw him in the back of the van, closing the sliding door as the van sped by and shots were fired.

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