Man Charged With Killing Boy, 15, Blocks From Obama's Home
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A man has been charged with the slaying of 15-year-old Cornelius "Cornbread" German, who was gunned down during a dice game last April, just blocks from President Barack Obama's Chicago home.
Kevin Culverson, 20, of the 700 block of East 50th Place, was charged with first-degree murder for firing a handgun into a crowd of people about 9:40 p.m. on April 22, Chicago Police announced early Wednesday.
Cornelius had been playing dice with friends in the backyard of a home in the 5000 block of South Evans Avenue when he was fatally shot in the back, police and family said at the time.
What made the shooting particularly heart-wrenching was that the boy's parents were en route to pick him up as shots rang out, family members told the Sun-Times.
When Cornelius was not waiting at a Walgreens at the corner of 51st and Cottage Grove Avenue as planned, annoyance shifted to apprehension — and eventually to grief, as police cars streamed into the area.
"I had this sinking gut feeling something wasn't right," said the boy's mother, 42-year-old Timika Rutledge. "I saw a police officer. He said a little kid got shot. Somehow, I knew it was my baby. I went back there. I saw my baby on the ground in the grass. I saw his gym shoes and his jacket."
Cornelius, of the 1000 block of West 51st Street, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The boy's friends later told Rutledge that Cornelius was leaving the dice game in the backyard when he was shot and that he wasn't the intended target, an account police could not confirm.
Culverson was scheduled to appear in bond court on Wednesday.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
