RACINE — An 18-year-old Racine resident was charged with homicide Monday after prosecutors say he pulled out a gun and shot and killed a teen at a party last Friday.
The suspect later told police that he thought people there were going to shoot him and that such behavior is normal in West Chicago, where he said he was from, according to a criminal complaint released Monday.
Joshua D. Daniel Jr., was charged with 1st-degree intentional homicide and numerous counts of 1st-degree recklessly endangering safety. If found guilty, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The criminal complaint states officers were called to a home in the 3000 block of Clairmont Street in response to a shooting Friday.
There, they found a 17-year-old boy with a gunshot wound in his chest. First responders pronounced the teen dead at the scene.
Several people at the home told investigators that they had brought Daniel there. The witnesses said as soon as they walked into the door, Daniel pulled out a gun and shot the victim, the complaint states.
None of the three witnesses said they saw the victim with a weapon, and after the shot was fired, they ran from the home, with Daniel following, according to prosecutors.
Daniel then ran away from the group, the complaint states. Daniel continued to text and message the three women when they were with police officers.
Officers later found Daniel at a home on 6th Street, where law enforcement say he tried to escape down an alley behind the residence.
A resident there told officers that he had picked up the victim from the area near Clairmont and driven him back to his home. Officers say inside the vehicle they found the handgun and casings used at the scene of the homicide, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors say during their interview with Daniel, Daniel initially denied knowing anything about the shooting, but he later admitted to shooting the victim because he was "smiling and looking" at him, the complaint states.
The suspect continued, according to law enforcement, that he felt that he had been set up by the three women and the people at the party because they were all sitting there looking at him as he came in. Daniel said he thought they were going to shoot him, the complaint states.
When asked why he shot the victim, Daniel said that he thought the victim "was reaching, why you think bro," according to prosecutors.
Daniel said he was from West Chicago "and that what he did was just normal behavior there," law enforcement write in the complaint.
On Monday, a judge set Daniel's bond at $100,000. He will be back in court for his preliminary hearing on May 20.
