Prosecutors say Fallon Harris, 37, shot her son twice Saturday morning when he failed to produce a memory card she was searching for.
Bail was denied Sunday for a city worker accused of fatally shooting her 12-year-old son this weekend at her South Chicago home.
Fallon Harris, 37, faces a single count of first-degree murder in her son Kaden Ingram’s killing Saturday morning in the 8000 block of South Bennett Avenue, according to officials.
Harris confronted Kaden about 10:15 Saturday morning about the whereabouts of a digital memory card she had removed from her vehicle the previous night, according to Cook County State’s Attorney Eugene Wood.
After Kaden was unable to produce the memory card when his mother demanded it at gunpoint, she shot him, Wood said Sunday during Harris’ initial court appearance.
A video surveillance camera inside the home captured audio of that first confrontation and gunshot.
Harris then answered a phone call before demanding the memory card again from Kaden, who was still “conscious and crying,” Wood said. When he said he didn’t know where it was, she shot him again.
That second shot, which caused Kaden to collapse on the kitchen floor, was clearly captured on video, Wood said.
Harris later admitted to two family members that she had shot her son because he wouldn’t return the memory card, Wood said. In turn, they both called police and Harris’ husband, who met officers at the home.
When she answered the door, Harris confessed to the officers and led them to a silver revolver, according to Wood, who said she had a concealed-carry license and owned two guns.
Kaden was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to Wood and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Results of an autopsy haven’t been released.
Several hours after the shooting, officers filed in and out of the brick house, some carrying bags of evidence. Tearful relatives later arrived, hugging each other across the street from the scene, but they declined to speak with a reporter.
Wood said family members reported Harris had been displaying “paranoid behavior” and complaining that people were out to get her. Fallon was disruptive and combative early in the hearing and later broke down and appeared to cry when was given an opportunity to speak.
“Can I talk to my momma?” she asked.
Harris’ court-appointed attorney described her client as a lifelong Cook County resident who has worked as a city laborer “for some time now.” City records show that she’s employed by the Chicago Department of Transportation at the rate of $45.90 an hour.
Judge Mary Marubio ultimately ordered Harris held without bail, as Wood had requested. Marubio also signed a health care order allowing Harris to be evaluated.
Her next court date was set for Monday.