Kenneth Sandy, a 30-year-old man from Chicago, Illinois, lost his life to gun violence on November 16, 2023. The incident occurred in the Rogers Park neighborhood, specifically in the 1600 block of West Howard, near the Howard CTA station.
The shooting resulted from an argument between Sandy and another man, which escalated into a physical confrontation. During this altercation, the other man pulled out a gun and shot Sandy.
Surveillance cameras in the area captured the shooting, and police were quickly notified.
When police officers arrived at the scene, a 25-year-old man named Kamari Robinson approached them and admitted to shooting Sandy. However, Robinson claimed that he acted in self-defense. According to his arrest report, Robinson told officers that he had given the gun to his sister after the shooting.
Sandy suffered two gunshot wounds to the left side of his chest and another to his arm. He died less than 30 minutes after the shooting.
Despite Robinson's admission, prosecutors declined to charge him with murder, citing self-defense as the reason. Instead, Robinson was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. This decision was made despite Robinson's prior convictions, including aggravated battery and a hate crime in 2016, for which he was sentenced to two years for the battery and one year for the hate crime. Judge Kelly McCarthy released Robinson on an ankle monitor during a detention hearing, rejecting the state's request to keep him in jail awaiting trial.
