RACINE – A 16-year-old male remained in custody Thursday on a charge of first-degree intentional homicide after allegedly shooting at another individual he accused of being “a snitch.”
The Racine County District Attorney’s office charged Marcus Ward, 16, with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, five counts of recklessly endangering safety-use of a dangerous weapon, carrying a concealed weapon, and possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.
According to the criminal complaint, Racine Police on Tuesday were dispatched to a residence in the 500 block of Greenfield Road on a shots fired complaint. A resident told officers that her son, identified as “JKH”, had been shot at by Marcus Ward. She also advised that JKH and Ward were both charged in a case. As a result, Ward labeled JKH “a snitch, and that Ward and his friends had been causing problems for her family since.”
JKH told investigators that when he returned home Tuesday, he was almost to the back stoop of his residence when he saw Ward running toward him and into the rear parking lot. He then saw Ward remove a handgun and begin shooting. JKH got inside and not injured. Police recovered five to six shell casings from the scene. The brass shell casings were imprinted “9mm LUGER R-P.”
Ward was taken into custody by police on Wednesday. The criminal complaint stated that Ward had a semi-automatic handgun in his front jacket pocket, identified as a Taurus G2c 9mm.
Ward told police that he had been spending nights at his grandmother’s residence in the 3900 block of Erie Street and that the gun was “for protection.” His grandmother told investigators that he had not stayed the night at her residence in months, the complaint stated.
Ward, who is being held in the Racine County Juvenile Detention facilities, made an initial court appearance on Thursday afternoon. Cash bond was set at $75,0000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 11 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 711 Wisconsin Ave.
