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Two-year-old Lavontay White killed in social media Chicago shooting

Posted at 7:55 AM, Feb 15, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-15 07:55:00-05

CHICAGO — A toddler and a 26-year-old man riding in a car were shot and killed in Chicago on Tuesday, the police department said, the second deadly incident involving a child in the city in the past two days.

The two-year-old, identified by police as Lavontay White, was sitting in a car driven by the child’s aunt and was shot in the head, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. Lavontay was pronounced dead at a hospital.

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The man, who was in the passenger seat in front of the child, died at the scene and the woman was wounded.

The shooting was captured in a social media video that shows the three in a vehicle, listening to music, when 16 gunshots are heard. The woman runs from the vehicle screaming and yells that she has been shot in the stomach.

The woman, who is pregnant, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, and she and her unborn child are in stable condition, Guglielmi said.

The 26-year-old man who died was a known gang member, he said.

Police believe the man and woman were dating.

The three were shot Tuesday afternoon in an alleyway on the southwest side of the city by an assailant who got out of a car that was driving by, police said. Police said they have a good idea of the identity of the suspect.

“We have very promising leads, we have (surveillance) video so there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll find him,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said at a news conference.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the shooting should be a “turning point.”

“Every parent, regardless of where they live, should be able to take their child for a walk to the park or a ride in the car,” he said.

Earlier Tuesday, 11-year-old Takiya Holmes, one of two young girls shot on the South Side of Chicago over the weekend, died, according to her family.

“We just cannot afford to continue to see our children being shot down for things that they have no involvement in,” Johnson said. “This has just got to stop somewhere.

“I’m sick of it and I know Chicago is sick of it, and I just hope that our legislative partners are sick of it,” he said.