Ganja-cam cop is out of the joint
TWO GANGBANGER brothers out on parole were charged with murder Sunday for the fatal shooting of the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade as she pushed a stroller down a street in violencestricken Chicago, police said.
Darwin Sorrells Jr., 26, and Derren Sorrells, 22, opened fire on another person on the city’s South Side Friday and a stray bullet struck Nykea Aldridge, police said.
Aldridge, 32, the first cousin of the Chicago Bulls shooting guard, was pushing her 3-week-old baby girl in a stroller near an elementary school when she was hit in the arm and head.
Police said the bloodthirsty Sorrells brothers intended to shoot a man who dropped off two women at a house in their neighborhood. They targeted him only because they could tell he was not from the area, police said.
The man escaped unscathed and later helped police track down his would-be killers, cops said.
The older brother, Darwin, has had six felony arrests and was paroled in February for vehicle theft, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a Sunday news conference.
The younger brother, Derren, was paroled less than three weeks ago after serving four years for possession of a stolen vehicle.
Both are known gang members, and one committed the murder during his daily break from his mandatory ankle bracelet, Johnson said.
Police called the younger brother the “co-conspirator,” but did not say who fired the fatal shots.
Commander Brendan Deenihan said video exists of the shooting, but police haven’t been able to find the weapon.
Johnson said the incident “isn’t just noteworthy because Ms. Aldridge has a famous family member.
“It’s noteworthy because these two offenders are the primary example of the challenge we face in Chicago with repeat gun offenders who don’t care who they shoot, don’t care whose lives they take and clearly, clearly, don’t fear the consequences of their actions,” he said.
Chicago is on track to have its most homicides since 1997. In July, there were 65 homicides, the most for that month since 2006.
Shortly before the charges were announced, dozens of people gathered at a Chicago church for a prayer service to remember the mother of four.
Aldridge’s parents, sister, nieces and nephews cried as they spoke about the woman they said was a gifted writer and “fighter of the family.”
Aldridge’s mother, Diann, said her daughter’s life “is gone too soon,” adding that she was a “little quiet storm of a daughter.”
Jolinda Wade, the pastor of the church and Dwyane’s mother, called her niece a “a very, very special young lady,” adding the family will hold on to their memories.
Aldridge’s baby was not harmed in the shooting and is now in the care of a relative.
Her heartbroken cousin denounced the shooting as “another act of senseless gun violence” in a city that has seen more than 2,700 shootings this year.
“4 kids lost their mom for NO REASON. Unreal. #EnoughisEnough,” Wade tweeted to his 5.8 million followers after Aldridge’s death.
Wade did not immediately comment on the arrests. RULE 1: Don’t steal pot.
Rule 2: If you’re a cop stealing pot, turn off your lapel camera. And see Rule 1.
A police sergeant in Grants, N.M., unwittingly recorded himself taking marijuana from his office and giving it to his girlfriend, authorities said.
Sgt. Roshern McKinney (photo) was released from jail over the weekend, according to KOB-TV. It wasn’t immediately known Sunday under what conditions he secured his release.
State police say McKinney was arrested Wednesday following an investigation that began in July, when the video recording was found.
He faces charges of distribution of marijuana, conspiracy and felony embezzlement.
According to state police, McKinney embezzled $785 and an 8-ounce brick of marijuana not submitted to the department’s evidence vault.