Second teen charged in Greater Grand Crossing double homicide

A 17-year-old boy charged in connection with a Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood shooting that left two teens dead and a third injured earlier this month was ordered held on a $1 million bond in court Wednesday.

Joshua Lofton was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated battery with a firearm, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. He was ordered held on a $1 million bond in court Wednesday.

Lofton is the second person charged with the Jan. 5 shooting in the 7500 block of South Dorchester that left Donta Parker, 16, and Sakinah Reed, 17, dead and another 16-year-old boy wounded. Last week, 16-year-old Anthony Murphy was ordered held without bond for his alleged role in the shooting.

Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Whang said Murphy shouted gang slogans before he started firing from behind the driver’s seat of the Ford Explorer around 3:30 p.m. that afternoon.

Parker suffered a gunshot wound to his abdomen, Whang said. Reed was shot twice in the back and once in the leg. Both teens were pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

The surviving teen–a 16-year-old boy–was shot in the leg and finger. That boy identified Murphy as sitting inside the SUV as did an employee at a nearby BP gas station where surveillance video captured the Green Ford Explorer at the business minutes before the shooting, Whang said.

Video footage also shows the vehicle turning onto Dorchester Avenue from 76th Street toward the victims, Whang said.

Six .380 caliber shell casings and two fired bullets were recovered from the scene. The Ford Explorer was recovered by police a day after the shooting. Inside, a .380 caliber shell casing that matched the shell casings from the scene was found on the windshield, Whang said.

The back of the SUV also tested positive for gunshot residue, Whang said.