Prosecutors say 17-year-old Javar Woods is accused of shooting 13-year-old Deantwan McKeever on Chicago’s South Side less than two hours after getting home from a stint at the Cook County juvenile detention center. McKeever was discovered with a gunshot wound in a gangway on May 21, spent a week at Comer Children’s Hospital, and later died. A judge has ordered Woods held after prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder.
Prosecutors Lay Out Timeline
In court, prosecutors sketched out a tight and grim timeline, according to CWB Chicago. They said Woods arrived home from the juvenile detention center shortly before 1 p.m. on May 21. A short time later, he and McKeever allegedly headed out to steal a car in the 8200 block of South Coles Avenue.
Prosecutors allege McKeever pulled a gun from a backpack and handed it to Woods, and that one of two lookouts heard two shots at about 2:43 p.m. before seeing McKeever collapse. The Chicago Sun-Times also reported that McKeever was transported to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition and that the Cook County medical examiner later pronounced his death a week after the shooting.
Arrest, Court And Charges
Chicago police, assisted by U.S. Marshals, arrested a 17-year-old in mid-July, and prosecutors approved a first-degree murder charge, authorities said, per NBC Chicago. At a detention hearing, Judge Luciano Panici Jr. called the defendant a "violent and dangerous person" and ordered him detained pending trial, prosecutors told CWB Chicago.
Several outlets noted that police initially withheld the suspect’s name because he is a juvenile, a practice ABC7 Chicago reported while the case moved through early hearings.
ShotSpotter And Response Gaps
Coverage of the shooting emphasized that McKeever was found in a gangway and that there was a lag before callers reached 911, a gap advocates say highlights the debate over gun-detection systems in Chicago. The city deactivated its ShotSpotter contract in September 2024 and has been looking for alternatives, according to FOX32 Chicago.
Research on whether those sensors actually speed up police responses has been mixed. A public-radio analysis found the system can sometimes slow response times, per WBEZ, fueling more arguments over how Chicago should respond to shootings like this one.
Community Reaction And Next Steps
Residents on the block told ABC7 Chicago they were stunned by the violence and worried about neighborhood kids who walk those streets every day. Officers spent hours canvassing nearby homes for surveillance video, going door to door in search of anything that might clarify what happened.
Local reporting and the medical examiner confirmed McKeever’s death a week after the shooting, and investigators continue to ask anyone with information or footage to contact detectives, per the reporting in the Chicago Sun-Times.
Legal Status
Because the suspect is a minor, some outlets initially limited identifying details while prosecutors presented evidence in court. The teen remains detained pending further hearings as prosecutors move the case forward, officials told NBC Chicago.
