A Cook County jury on Friday acquitted a man of shooting and killing 7-year-old Natalia Wallace, making him the second defendant to be found not guilty in the slaying on the Fourth of July in 2020.
Davion Mitchell was found not guilty of murder and other felonies a week after jury selection began on April 4. In December, Cook County Judge Joanne Rosado found a co-defendant, Kevin Boyd, guilty of murder, but she acquitted the alleged getaway driver, Reginald Merrill. Charges are still pending against a fourth man, Boyd’s brother, Terrell Boyd.
Wallace, called Natalie by her family, was slain while playing outside with her cousins in the South Austin neighborhood, at least the 13th child 10 years old or under to be shot that year. She was the unintended victim of a revenge shooting, prosecutors had alleged.
“The jury did the right thing with the evidence that was given to them,” Mitchell’s attorney, Nathaniel Niesen, said. “Davion is back home with his family where he belongs.”
The verdict, though, left family members reeling, especially as one defendant has already walked free.
“I don’t understand what happened,” said Shelley Fulton, a great aunt of Natalie’s. “All my faith is shattered.”
Cook County prosecutors delivered opening arguments on Tuesday, telling jurors that Natalie was gunned down in a “hail of bullets” fired by the men who sought revenge for an earlier shooting death. They hit their intended target in the legs, injuring him, prosecutors said. Natalie was struck by a stray while outside on the bright summer evening.
“She had her entire life in front of her,” Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Mary Jo Murtaugh said.
But prosecutors faced an uphill battle, contending with multiple uncooperative witnesses, including the other victim in the case, the apparent target of the shooting.
Niesen argued to the jury that the state’s case was “held together with popsicle sticks.”
“It’s too tragic to really put into words,” he said. “We’re here to talk about who is responsible.”
For the family members, they are struggling with reliving the details of the shooting over the course of two separate trials.
“It’s like bringing that day back over and over,” Fulton said.
