Alleged shooter of boy who moved to Chicago against family’s wishes ordered held without bond

A 16-year-old boy fatally shot in Woodlawn after recently moving to the city died following a dispute sparked by a crying baby, Cook County prosecutors said Friday.

Uriel Rogers-Knox’s alleged shooter, Sir Mario Ford, 19, appeared in court Friday at the George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse, where he was ordered held without bond on a charge of first-degree murder.

Ford lives in the Woodlawn neighborhood, across the street from Rogers-Knox, who shared an apartment with a group of people that includes the mother of Ford’s baby, prosecutors said. On Feb. 8, the mother dropped off the baby at Ford’s apartment in the 6200 block of South Greenwood. When the baby wouldn’t stop crying, Ford asked the mother to come get the child, prosecutors said.

That’s when an argument broke out between Ford’s family and a group that included the mother of his baby and Rogers-Knox, prosecutors said. The argument escalated, with Ford’s sister spraying mace on Rogers-Knox and the mother of the baby, prosecutors said.

At some point, Ford, wearing a black puffy coat, came out of his apartment, pulled out a revolver and fired twice, striking Rogers-Knox, prosecutors said. It was unclear from Friday’s hearing whether Rogers-Knox was the intended target.

Prosecutors say Ford was later swabbed and found to have gunshot residue on his body.

Negaya Knox, Rogers-Knox’s mother, told the Chicago Sun-Times this week that her son had come to the city from his Minneapolis home months ago – and had done so against the family’s wishes.

“He thought I was blocking him,” Knox said. “His exact words were that I was stopping him from living his best life. And we all went to bed that night, and when I got up in the morning he was gone.”

Rogers-Knox’s mother said she didn’t know exactly who he was staying with in Chicago, where she grew up.

“I am upset with the adults who were around my son, who are reaching out to me now but made no good-faith effort to find me,” she said.