Man ordered held without bail in girl’s slaying
11-year-old struck during shootout at gas station
The man accused of killing an 11-year-old girl in a gas station shootout last month told police he started firing because he was drunk and high, and he thought another man at the station had a gun, Cook County prosecutors said in court Friday.
Marcus Starkey, 27, faces charges of first-degree murder in the death of Ny-Andrea Dyer and attempted murder in the shooting of 18-year-old Malik Perteet, who was wounded. Judge John Lyke Jr. ordered Starkey held without bail.
Ny-Andrea was in a car with her mother when Starkey began firing in Perteet’s direction, prosecutors said, and one of the bullets went through the car window and struck Ny-Andrea in the face.
“She’s a little baby. Eleven years of age,” Lyke said during a videoconferenced court hearing Friday afternoon. “… This case is despicable, it’s despicable and tragic all in the same breath.”
Starkey’s attorney said he “vigorously” maintains his innocence, noting that he has been steadily employed, has a high school diploma and has been diagnosed with a mental illness.
The shooting occurred March 1 at a BP gas station in the West Pullman neighborhood, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.
Perteet pulled up at the station in the 12700 block of South Wentworth Avenue and saw two men in masks and hoodies — one of whom allegedly was Starkey — pass by on 127th Street, Murphy said.
Perteet waited until they passed before getting out of his car and going into the gas station. When he emerged, he went back to his car and started fueling up, then turned his head to see the two men approaching. Thinking he was about to be robbed, he walked back toward the building, trying to get inside, Murphy said.
Security footage shows that Perteet was walking toward the building and away from Starkey and the other man when Starkey began to fire, Murphy said.
Perteet ran toward the gas station and tried to open the doors, but they were locked.
He pulled out his own gun and began to return fire, Murphy said.
Perteet was not licensed to own or conceal a firearm, and was later arrested and charged in connection with shooting at his attackers.
After the chaos of the scene quieted, it became clear that one of Starkey’s rounds killed Ny-Andrea, prosecutors said. Video footage shows Starkey’s “trajectory of fire” was toward both Perteet and the car where Ny-Andrea was sitting, whereas Perteet was firing
the opposite way, Murphy said.
Video also shows Starkey and the other man running after the shooting toward the alley where Starkey’s car was parked. When it would not start, Starkey dropped his gun on Wentworth Avenue and started to run, Murphy said.
Forensic testing showed a match between that gun and some of the spent casings from the scene, Murphy said.
Not long after the shooting, Starkey showed up at a nearby Metra station and told two employees he had just been robbed. He said he would give one of them $600 to drive him somewhere, then upped the offer to $900, Murphy said.
One of the employees refused and told Starkey that
police were on the way. Starkey then asked: Would it be Chicago PD or Metra police?
It could be both, the employee responded. Starkey’s eyes widened, and he ran off, Murphy said.
Starkey was arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota, on March 18 and extradited back to Chicago on Thursday. No information was yet available about Starkey’s apprehension in Minnesota, police said in a statement.
In a video-recorded interview with police, Starkey at first said he didn’t know anything about the shooting, but after being shown some of the evidence said he “started shooting at the dude” because he was drunk and high. Starkey said he thought “the dude” had a gun, but he never saw the gun, and he admitted to shooting first
“He said that the gun was his buddy’s gun and that guns are a necessity in Chicago because you feel safe with it,” Murphy said in court Friday.
Community activist Andrew Holmes, who was recently in a South Side crash involving a CTA bus, has been working with the girl’s family.
“Chicago, when we gonna stand up like we stand up when there’s a police shooting? When we gonna stand up when we’re being disrespected? When we gonna stand up and protect these children and turn these individuals in?” Holmes asked in a televised speech after Ny-Andrea was taken off life support.
Ny-Andrea’s mother, who said she did not want her name published, says she feels Perteet also bears significant culpability for her daughter’s death because it was clear based on what she and her boyfriend saw at the gas station that he knew the men who fired at him, and he had a weapon of his own at the ready.
“This man really took a piece of our heart away. I feel so empty. We’re devastated,” she said.
Ny-Andrea’s mother said she hasn’t been able to eat regularly, is having trouble sleeping and hasn’t felt able to work since the shooting. She’s also worried about the financial impact of the funeral and hospital stay, and says those who want to help can donate to a GoFundMe established by her sister.
She has been staying in hotels because she says she can’t bear the pain of going back to the family home without her daughter.
“She will never leave my heart and mind, I will never lose those memories,” she said. “I won’t ever have my baby back in flesh.”
A funeral is planned for April 9.
“She’s a little baby. Eleven years of age. … This case is despicable, it’s despicable and tragic all in the same breath.” — Judge John Lyke, during a videoconferenced court hearing Friday afternoon