2 men charged in shooting of NBA star Wade’s cousin

CHICAGO >> Two brothers who were on parole for prior criminal activity have been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade, Chicago police announced Sunday.

Darwin Sorrells Jr., 26, and Derren Sorrells, 22, also were charged with attempted murder in Friday’s shooting. They appeared in court Sunday and were ordered held without bail.

Nykea Aldridge, a 32-year-old mother of four, was pushing her baby in a stroller near a school where she’d planned to register her children when she was shot in the head and arm. She wasn’t the intended target, Cmdr. Brendan Deenihan said at a news conference Sunday, but rather a driver who had just dropped off passengers in the neighborhood.

There is video of the incident, Deenihan said, but no weapon was recovered and police don’t know where the weapon is.

Chicago has been in the throes of a major uptick in gun violence this year, largely centered in a few South and West Side neighborhoods, after years of seeing declines. This July alone, there were 65 homicides — the most for that month since 2006.

Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the suspects are an example of the city’s problem with repeat offenders, which he has spoken about frequently in recent months. Darwin Sorrells was sentenced to six years in prison in January 2013 on a gun charge and was released early on parole. Derren Sorrells is a known gang member who is also on parole for motor vehicle theft and escape, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, adding he has six felony arrests on his record.

“They don’t care who they shoot and they don’t fear the consequences,” Johnson said, noting as he has in the past that about 1,400 people are driving 85 percent of the city’s gun violence. He added that the city has gotten very good at predicting who will be the perpetrators and the victims of gun violence.