Bail was denied Saturday for a 30-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a teenage boy earlier this fall in Gresham.
Danny Simmons is charged with first-degree murder for the Oct. 22 slaying of 17-year-old Tremayne Maltbia.
Around 8:30 a.m. that day, Simmons stopped the blue Honda minivan he was driving in the 7800 block of South Wood Street near Maltbia and the teen’s high school friend, who were walking in the area after stopping for snacks at a convenience store, Assistant State’s Attorney Patrick Waller said during a livestreamed bail hearing.
Simmons pulled a 9mm handgun from his hoodie and fired multiple shots at Maltbia before getting back in the van and driving away, prosecutors said.
Investigators recovered 10 fired shell casings from the scene, Waller said.
The teen, who was struck in his head, face and body, died at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, authorities said at the time.
As gunfire erupted, Maltbia’s friend ran back to the convenience store, where he waited for police to arrive, Waller said. The friend didn’t know Simmons by name but allegedly had seen him driving a blue minivan in the neighborhood multiple times. They later identified Simmons in a photo array, prosecutors said.
Another person who witnessed the shooting had called 911 and shared several digits of the license plate on the blue minivan to the police, prosecutors said.
Part of the shooting and circumstances around it were captured on video, Waller said. Surveillance footage of the van driving from the scene to an alley captured the license plate of the van, which matched the partial code given by the second witness, Waller said.
The van is registered to Simmons’ father, who confirmed his son had access to it, according to Waller.
An arrest warrant was issued for Simmons Nov. 2. He was taken into custody in Tennessee, where his attorney says he was visiting family for Thanksgiving, before being extradited back to Illinois.
Assistant Public Defender Courtney Smallwood noted that Simmons, a father of a 1-year-old son, hasn’t admitted to any wrongdoing. She also said Simmons suffers from mental illness and lives with his grandparents and other family members.
Simmons is due back in court Monday.
