An argument between two girls over the way one was dressed escalated into a deadly confrontation between adults, one of whom brought a gun, prosecutors said during a hearing in bond court Sunday.
The argument happened Aug. 26. Shortly thereafter, several adults gathered at a liquor store at 51st and May streets in the Back of the Yards neighborhood to try to quash the bad blood between the two parties, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Kline said during the hearing Sunday.
Robert Nathaniel, 25, was with the father of one of the girls during the gathering, which escalated to bloodshed when Nathaniel briefly left and returned armed with a handgun, Kline said.
Nathaniel, of the 1100 block of West 50th Street, fired four shots at a group of three people in the alley near the liquor store, Kline said.
One of the bullets struck John Short in the lower back. Short, 24, of the 5600 block of South Wood Street was killed, Kline said.
Evidence against Nathaniel, who was charged with first-degree murder, includes video surveillance footage and witnesses who identified Nathaniel weeks after the shooting, Kline said.
On Sunday, Cook County Judge James Brown set bail at $1 million for Nathaniel, who remained silent during the bond hearing.
