A Cook County judge on Thursday found a man guilty of shooting and killing 7-year-old Natalia Wallace on the Fourth of July in 2020, but acquitted the alleged getaway driver, issuing the split ruling in front of a full courtroom of family members.
Wallace, who was called Natalie by her family, was slain while playing with her cousins outside in the South Austin neighborhood, at least the 13th child aged 10 or under to be shot that year. She was the unintended victim of a revenge shooting, prosecutors had alleged.
“I’m a little bit shocked,” Natalie’s father, Nathan Wallace said after the rulings. “I’m grateful at least one was found guilty.”
Kevin Boyd, 35, and Reginald Merrill, 37, were standing trial on murder charges before Judge Joanne Rosado. Prosecutors said Boyd and two others fired a volley of shots around 7 p.m. in the 100 block of North Latrobe Avenue, aiming for a man they believed was involved in the slaying of Boyd’s brother. Merrill, prosecutors alleged, served as their getaway driver.
Charges remain pending against two other co-defendants, Davian Mitchell and Terrell Boyd.
Prosecutors said Boyd, his brother and two others sought to avenge the death of a third Boyd brother.
“They were out getting revenge,” Assistant State’s Attorney Krystyn Dilillo said. “The Boyds had a bone to pick with the streets because their brother was murdered a week or two before.”
Delivering her ruling at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Rosado stressed that two separate eyewitnesses had identified Boyd to detectives as a shooter. Though both witnesses ended up recanting in the courtroom, Rosado said other evidence proved they were lying on the stand.
One of the witnesses was the intended victim of the shooting, who was shot in the legs that day. The other was Natalie’s aunt.
“She comes in here, her demeanor is hostile, agitated, unwilling to testify. She denies everything, remembers absolutely nothing,” Rosado said. “I don’t understand why an aunt who saw her niece murdered would get on the stand and lie, but she did.”
But in Merrill’s case, Rosado said, no one identified him as having been involved. Though his car was used in the shooting, Rosado said the driver never exited the vehicle, and there was no clear view of him captured on any video.
“Is it him? Probably,” Rosado said. “But probably is not beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The daylight shooting happened as children, including Natalie, played together on block as the day wound down and Chicagoans geared up for fireworks later than night. Nathan Wallace testified that he left to run an errand, but was soon frantically called by family members telling him to return to the block.
“I actually begged for her to come with me,” Wallace said of his daughter. “She wanted to stay with her cousins.”
With tears in his eyes after the ruling, Wallace said though his family members are upset, they’re anxious to see if the remaining two defendants will be served with justice.
“It didn’t turn out how we wanted,” he said.
Natalie has three siblings, and was set to start second grade at Crown Community Academy of Fine Arts that fall.
With Christmas around the corner, Wallace will be with his surviving children. They will watch Christmas movies, he said, and reminisce about Natalie.
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