Neighbor gets 40 years for killing 9-year-old girl after she bought ice cream in Portage Park – CWB Chicago

A Northwest Side man who intentionally shot and killed his 9-year-old neighbor moments after she bought ice cream for herself and her father three summers ago was sentenced Thursday to 40 years in prison. Michael Goodman must serve the entire sentence imposed by Judge Tyria Walton after pleading guilty to one count of murder.

Serabi Medina was outside her family’s apartment building in the 3500 block of North Long Avenue on a Saturday evening in August 2023 while her father talked with friends. One of the friends gave her money to buy treats from an ice cream truck, and she returned with ice cream for herself and her father.

A few minutes later, a gunshot rang out nearby, prompting Serabi’s father to tell her to take her scooter and go inside, prosecutors said. As Serabi reached the front door, Goodman emerged from his apartment building across the street with a gun, walked up to her and shot her in the head as her father ran toward him, according to prosecutors.

Serabi’s father tackled Goodman in the vestibule of the Medina family’s apartment building, causing the gun to discharge and the bullet struck Goodman in the eye. The father and all three friends who witnessed the shooting identified Goodman as the gunman.

Chicago police recovered one shell casing outside the front door of Serabi’s apartment building and another casing jammed inside a gun found on the vestibule floor. Investigators who searched Goodman’s apartment found a bullet lodged in a wall, a shell casing and a box of ammunition bearing the same headstamp as the casings recovered at the murder scene, prosecutors said. Police also found evidence linking Goodman to the murder weapon.

Goodman had no prior criminal record. His attorney said he was suffering from mental health disorders and was under the influence of ketamine at the time of the shooting. He will receive credit for the three years he has spent in the Cook County Jail.