Police say the man accused of fatally shooting his daughter Thursday in the parking lot of a downtown Gary restaurant was upset the girl's mother might move.
Cordell Richardson, 22, of Gary, was charged with murder Friday in connection with the death of his daughter, Eboni, who would have turned 19 months old Monday. Richardson, who police say shot himself in the head after shooting the child in the chest, remained hospitalized Friday at the Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus in Merrillville.
His brother-in-law Jamell Campbell told authorities he was approaching Richardson's SUV in the Bennigan's parking lot near the U.S. Steel Yard when he heard two gunshots and saw a flash inside the vehicle, according to a probable cause affidavit the Lake County prosecutor's office released Friday. Richardson, who faces up to 65 years in prison if convicted, had driven to the restaurant after family members pleaded with him to turn over Eboni to her mother, Shaina Hill.
"The possible motive (for the shooting) is the mom was thinking about relocating," Gary police Cpl. Gabrielle King said. "That is why he said, 'No one is taking my baby.'"
Campbell and two of Richardson's friends arranged to meet Richardson in the parking lot to transfer custody of the child Thursday about 5:25 p.m., according to the affidavit and King. The baby's mother was not at the scene, King said.
After the shooting, Richardson's friends, Jerry Wheeler and Thomas Murray, put the baby in Campbell's car, while Campbell got in Richardson's SUV to drive him to the hospital, the affidavit states. The car broke down, and Campbell picked up the passengers and drove them to the Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary.
The baby was pronounced dead at 5:34 p.m. of the gunshot to the chest, said a spokesperson for the Lake County coroner's office. Police recovered a .38 caliber handgun from the restaurant parking lot.
Gary police and Mayor Rudy Clay stressed Friday that the shooting -- the second in the Bennigan's lot this month -- was not connected to the restaurant or the attached stadium.
"It's no reflection on the Bennigan's, and it's no reflection on the baseball stadium. It could happen anywhere in the world," Clay said.
"It's too bad he didn't just complete the suicide and leave the baby alone," Clay said.
King encouraged separated parents to make child handoffs in a safe place. She said parents are welcome to use the Gary police station.
Gwen Johnson, who lives next to the apartment Eboni inhabited with her grandmother, wept bitterly when told of the child's death.
"I can't believe he did that to the baby," she cried.
Johnson's husband echoed her surprise, saying Richardson seemed "nice."
"If anything, you would think he was a studious person, real quiet. That's just hard to believe," Reggie Johnson said.
