Homicide Watch Chicago

By MITCH DUDEK
Chicago Sun-Times

Michael Santiago bought a revolver to protect himself after the former gang member was tagged with the dangerous label of “snitch” because he testified at the murder trial of another gang member, according to Cook County prosecutors.

But his plan went terribly wrong, and his 3-year-old Eian H. Santiago paid the price.

Santiago’s 6-year-old son got his hands on the gun and accidentally shot his younger brother while the toddler ate a bowl of macaroni and cheese, killing him, prosecutors said at his Sunday bond hearing.

“This is the ultimate tragedy,” Cook County Judge James Brown said before setting Santiago’s bail at $75,000. “I’m sure the defendant didn’t intend for this to happen, but it did happen.”

Santiago warned his elder son that the Smith & Wesson .32-caliber revolver—bundled in a pair of pajama pants atop the refrigerator in the family’s garden apartment in Humboldt Park—was to be handled “only by adults,” prosecutors said.

But the boy got ahold of the weapon and shot his brother in the head just after 9 p.m. Saturday, prosecutors said. Police said the boy was playing cops and robbers.

Santiago, 25, gave a videotaped statement to police in which he admitted he bought the gun off the street for protection. He was charged with felony child endangerment causing death.

Prosecutors said Sunday that Santiago had no concealed carry license, nor did he have an FOID card.

The boys were under the supervision of their grandfather, who was in an upstairs apartment when he heard the shot.

The grandfather carried the boy from the family’s apartment on the 1000 block of North Francisco Avenue about a block to Norwegian American Hospital. The boy was later transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

At the time of the shooting, Santiago was working at a pizza restaurant that he manages. His wife was at a grocery buying milk with the couple’s third child, who is 1.

According to the public defender assigned to the case, Santiago’s family could gather only $1,000 for bond.

Santiago’s family wept during the hearing and declined to speak with reporters in the hallway of the criminal courts building at 26th Street and California Avenue.

Santiago has no felony convictions on his record. In 2010, he was convicted of misdemeanor theft and disorderly conduct, prosecutors said.

Santiago, who wore a T-shirt bearing the logo of the pizza shop he manages and kept quiet in court while mostly looking at the floor, is the primary caretaker and provider of the family, his public defender said.

The bail amount, be it high or low, “is not going to bring back this child,” the judge lamented.

Santiago is due back in court Oct. 23, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.