ALTON, Ill. (AP) — A man has been charged with fatally shooting a fifth-grader while the boy was waiting for a ride to basketball practice in southwestern Illinois.
Eighteen-year-old Ta’Mon F. Ford was charged Thursday with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 11-year-old Romell Jones. He’s being held without bond in the Madison County Jail in Edwardsville.
Ford is accused of firing a fatal shot at Romell from a vehicle with five other occupants Monday outside a housing complex in Alton. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Ford has an attorney who can comment on his behalf.
Investigators say the shooting was the result of a dispute over social media that didn’t involve the boy.
No one else has been charged, but an investigation into the shooting is ongoing.