13-Year-Old Darius Simmons Shot By Neighbor In Front Of His Mother

June 5, 2012
News
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Patricia Larry of Milwaukee holds a picture of her son during a news conference Saturday. Darius Simmons, 13, was killed in front of their home. / Meg Kissinger

Source: Meg Kissinger /Journal Sentinel

Darius Simmons was like a lot of 13-year-old boys – funny, boisterous and a little braggy.

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.

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