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URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — Three people are dead after two shootings separated by a day and just a couple miles.
“This was a devastating couple of days in Urbana,” Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin said.
On Friday, police found an 18-year-old with several gunshot wounds near Vawter and Silver Streets. He died at the hospital and was later identified as Sherman McCraney Jr.
On Saturday, Urbana Police responded near Lanore Drive and Washington Street just before 8:00 p.m. The Champaign County Coroner identified 7-year-old Darnell “DJ” Hicks and 43-year-old Melvin Braxton as two people who died from gunshots.
Police tape waved in the wind as medical equipment littered the sidewalk the morning after the violence.
Neighbors Simon Yu and his wife were on their way back home when police cars came rushing by. The crime scene turned out to be closer than they ever imagined.
“The police tape was literally across our front yard,” Yu said. “At the end of my driveway, right there I just saw like a pool of blood, like dried blood, and there was some evidence bags.”
Yu and his wife watched as flashing police lights illuminated the neighborhood they’ve lived in for eight years. He said the tragedy is never something he thought would happen so close to home.
“Who would do that to a 7-year-old?” Yu said. “I can’t believe that’s what happened.”
Police don’t believe the shooting was random. They said in a press release that it started as a domestic violence situation where the people inside the home knew the suspect.
“When you lose lives to what’s essentially relationships that have become so fractured and damaged that it ends in a 7-year-old baby being killed, there aren’t many words to describe it at this point,” Marlin said.
Just a day prior, police say 18-year-old Sherman McCraney Jr. was shot and killed near Vawter and Silver Streets.
“You don’t ever move past it,” Marlin said. “You don’t ever get over the loss of your son or your grandson or your family member. You learn to live with it, but things are never the same.”
Police say the shootings are not connected, although they happened less than two miles apart.
“I’ll probably never forget this, I mean, it happened so close to us,” Yu said.
Officers continue to canvass the surrounding area for witnesses and video footage that may help with their investigation. Any residents or businesses in the nearby area with any exterior surveillance camera systems are encouraged to notify the Urbana Police Department.
The department’s nonemergency number is 217-384-2320. Alternatively, anyone wanting to remain anonymous can submit a tip to Champaign County Crime Stoppers through the following methods:
- Calling 217-373-8477
- Visiting Crime Stoppers’ website
- Using the P3 Tips app
Crime Stoppers will reward any tip in a homicide investigation with $5,000 if it leads to an arrest.
