Darius Simmons was like a lot of 13-
year-old boys – funny, boisterous and
a little braggy.
“He was a jokester, loving and funny,”
said Toni Clark, who taught him sixth
grade at Gaenslen Elementary School
in Milwaukee’s Riverwest
neighborhood.
His friends and family gathered
Saturday to remember him in front of
the house he moved into 29 days
before he was gunned down while
retrieving a trash can from the street.
John Henry Spooner, his 75-year-old
next-door neighbor, is charged with
first-degree murder in the boy’s
death. Spooner, a widower who has
been diagnosed with cancer, had
complained to Ald. Bob Donovan
about a break-in at his home earlier
in the week, blaming the family next
door.
Spooner admitted to police that he
shot Darius on Thursday morning,
even as the boy had held up his arms
and ran away.
“It’s very disturbing,” Donovan said
Saturday. “John lived in the
neighborhood a long time. I never
knew him to so much as loiter or spit
on the street.”
The houses sit 15 feet apart on the
1900 block of W. Arrow St., a
traditional south side neighborhood of
modest wood-framed houses, small
lawns and tall ash trees. A prayer
service and news conference drew
more than 50 people Saturday
afternoon.
Patricia Larry, Darius’ mother, sat on
a chair on the front lawn, sobbing as
family members fanned her and
wiped her forehead with a wet cloth.
Betty McCuiston, Darius’ aunt, said the
boy was in school Tuesday when
someone broke in to Spooner’s house
and stole some guns. She said police
searched Darius’ house after he was
shot but did not find any of Spooner’s
guns.
“He was gunned down for something
he did not do,” she said.
McCuiston said her sister moved to the
neighborhood on May 1 from the
north side because she wanted
something quieter and safer than her
old neighborhood.
Darius talked about going to
Milwaukee Tech high school, said
Clark, the teacher.
“He was determined to get a good
education,” she said, noting that he
often rode his bike more than seven
miles each way to go to school.
“Once he had me watch him on the
playground to show me how far he
could throw a football,” she said,
smiling.
On the day of the shooting, Darius was
home from school because he did not
feel well, McCuiston said. She said he
went outside to bring the trash can
back in from the street when Spooner
confronted him about the stolen guns.
The boy denied stealing them, and his
mother, who was also outside, told
Spooner to leave them alone.
Spooner then pulled out a gun and
shot the boy twice, the criminal
complaint alleges. Darius died a few
hours later.
McCuiston said the family is angry –
at the police for not being more
responsive to Spooner’s original
complaint about the break-in at his
house, at Donovan for not doing more,
and especially at Spooner.
“No mother should have to sit in a
hospital and wait for the doctor to
come out and say that she is sorry but
he did not make it,” McCuiston said.
“We have to talk to each other as
neighbors,” said Jose Perez, an
alderman for the area. “We need to
do a better job communicating with
one another. One neighbor is dead,
another is in jail.”
McCuiston said she agreed with that.
“I don’t think God designed for a
mother to bury her 13-year-old son,”
she said.
Spooner was arraigned in Milwaukee
County Circuit Court on Saturday
morning, where he was told that he is
charged with first-degree intentional
homicide, use of a dangerous weapon.
A court commissioner found there is
probable cause to hold Spooner on the
charge and set cash bail at $300,000.
No representative for Spooner could
be reached for comment Saturday.
source :bossip
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