Teen Guilty of Shooting Baby in Stroller

The baby's mother lost another son to violence in 2008 when she lived in Gloucester County, N.J.

An 18-year-old man was convicted of murder in the shooting of a baby who was riding in a stroller alongside his mom in a town in coastal Georgia.
 
Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding De'Marquise Elkins guilty in the March 21 killing of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick.

Prosecutors said Elkins killed Antonio in an attempted robbery. The baby's mother, Sherry West, was also shot.

West previously lived in Gloucester County, N.J. and lost another son to violence in 2008. Her teenage son, Shaun Glassey, was 18 when he was stabbed to death in West Deptford.

Police say Glassey was the one originally carrying the knife and he had intentions to kill another teen, when his target grabbed the knife. Prosecutors never charged anyone with his death because they said it was self defense.

Sherry West testified during the two-week trial that she was walking home from the post office with 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in a stroller on the morning of March 21. She said a gunman demanding her purse shot her baby in the face after she told him she had no money.

De'Marquise Elkins' attorney asked for bond for his client while they appealed, which a judge denied.

The man's mother, Karimah Elkins, was on trial alongside him and was found guilty of tampering with evidence but acquitted of lying to police.

Another teen, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, is also charged with murder in the case and is set to be tried later.
 
Prosecutors said Elkins and his accomplice, Lang, are the ones who stopped West. Prosecutors say the older teen pointed a small .22-caliber revolver at West and demanded money.

When West refused several times to turn over the money, Elkins fired a warning shot and then shot West in the leg and shot the baby between the eyes, prosecutors said.
 
The killing in the port city of Brunswick drew national attention, and the trial was moved to the Atlanta suburb of Marietta because of the extensive publicity locally.
 
Prosecutors have said information from Elkins' mother and sister led investigators to a pond where they found the revolver. Elkins' sister also was charged with evidence tampering.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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