News — Killing

In September of 1994, members of the Black Disciples street gang in Chicago decided 11-year-old Robert Sandifer was a little too much even for young men who were putting down rivals, as they would say, on the regular.

Sandifer, who was also called Yummy because he liked cookies, had proven exuberant and conspicuous. The Disciples feared that if they did not rein him in, the prepubescent could become an informant.

Yummy’s tendency to be showy and reckless means the police could grab him. And if they did, they would use the boy to get to the Disciples.

And so on September 1, the Disciples took out Yummy on the railroad underpass at East 108th Street and South Dauphin Avenue.

He was shot in the back of his head by Cragg and Derrick Hardaway, who were 14 and 16 respectively. The pair had ordered Yummy to go down on his knees.

Indeed, there had been a police manhunt for Yummy due to what Chicago’s head of police at the time, Sgt Ronald Palmer said was an initiation gone wrong.

On August 28 of that year, Yummy opened fire on a group of people, presumably from a rival gang, with a 9mm semiautomatic. He immediately fled the scene.

But Yummy also hit 14-year-old Shavon Dean, an innocent young girl who had been around the scene. Dean later died from the bullet wounds.

When rumors spread nationally that the perpetrator of the crime had been an 11-year-old, the shock of the crime was tripled.

Recent debates about what Chicago means to young black men have their foundations from about this time. The frequency of the terrors left so many with questions.

The Hardaway brothers had been sent by the Disciples on August 31 to deal with the problem Yummy had brought the gang. The brothers were later convicted.

Interestingly, the Black Disciples were founded in 1966 as part of efforts to advance civil rights. Along the way, that noble vision was lost.

A 27-year-old Texas man has been accused of killing his wife and two children after he was found lying next to their bodies. Bryan Richardson has been charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Kiera Michelle Ware, and their two young children, whose names have not been released, the Copperas Cove Police Department said in a statement.

According to reports, the police were called around 9:32 p.m. Saturday for a welfare check on the family in Copperas Cove after the deceased woman’s brother was not able to reach her.

Upon arriving at the home of the family, the police found “a large amount of blood on the kitchen and living room floors,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by KWTX-TV. A small dog was also found dead in a pool of blood in the kitchen, the complaint stated.

The police officers then found a large pool of blood outside a bedroom that was locked from the inside. They forced open the door and found Richardson lying on a bed covered in blood, with the bodies of his wife and two children next to him, according to court documents. A bloody knife, an empty six-pack of beer and an empty bottle of Trazodone, a prescription antidepressant, were also found in the home.

When the police asked Richardson what happened, he said he did not know, the complaint stated. The officers however found three cuts on Richardson’s left arm which he allegedly said were self-inflicted. Later, Richardson was asked if he was worried about losing his job, his wife or custody of his children. He allegedly responded, “I already lost all of those.”

Richardson, who worked at a GNC vitamin and nutrition shop, is being held on a $2.25 million bond. He has not yet entered a plea.