A community is in mourning this week following the tragic and untimely death of a three-year-old boy at the hands of his older brother on Saturday.
Eian Santiago was taking part in a game of Cops and Robbers with his six-year-old sibling when the latter reached for a gun, which was kept on top of the fridge in their Humboldt Park home, and shot his younger brother in the face.
Following the child's tragic death in hospital, the boys' father, Michael Santiago, was arrested on a felony child endangerment charge.
It is understood that the 25-year-old father, a former gang member, kept the firearm wrapped in pyjamas in the kitchen as a mode of protection, with the Chicago Tribune reporting: "He kept the gun for protection because he was a former gang member who snitched on a gang member in a murder trial."
The court heard that Mr. Santiago had shown his young children where the illegal firearm was kept in the house - a revelation which doesn't surprise Superintendent Garry McCathy who asserts that his officers seize many times more illegal guns than any other city in the nation.
Lamenting the tragic loss of life, Mr. McCarthy laid bare his feelings on the matter, insisting: "It’s real simple. If that gun is not in the house that kid is alive today."
“We see this happen over and over and over again. Until something happens with these gun laws, it’s going to continue," he warned
Taking to Facebook in the wake of the tragic event, Eian's mother defended her husband, writing: "My husband is a great husband and father. It was an accident. Please, no one wanted to this to happen.”
Mr. Santiago's bail was set at $75,000 by Judge James Brown
