Nationwide — Terell Boyd, one of the four men charged in the 2020 shooting that killed 7-year-old Natalie Wallace, was found not guilty this week. The ruling came nearly five years after the stray bullet that ended her life during a 4th of July gathering in Chicago.
Natalie had been playing outside in the Austin neighborhood when three gunmen stepped out of a white car and opened fire toward a nearby party. Police said more than 20 shots were fired, and one bullet struck the child in the forehead as her family watched. She later died at the hospital.
Boyd faced charges that included murder and aggravated battery, but the judge cleared him on all counts. His brothers, Davion Mitchel and Kevin Boyd, were also charged in the case. Mitchel was previously found not guilty, while Kevin Boyd was convicted of murder, aggravated battery, and aggravated discharge of a firearm. Kevin is set to return to court this Thursday.
Another man, Reginald Merrill, was accused of driving the group to the shooting scene. He, too, was found not guilty of murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm.
Natalie’s father, Nathan Wallace, said each acquittal has made the past five years even heavier. He has attended every hearing, hoping for closure in his daughter’s case, but now feels that hope slipping away. He said sitting through repeated testimony shattered what little strength he had left.
“I’m just torn and still trying to figure out how to go day-by-day living with something like that,” Wallace told ABC 7 Chicago.
Wallace described the years since the shooting as a constant effort to hold on to his daughter’s memory. He said she loved “Frozen” and always filled their home with warmth. The repeated not guilty verdicts have left him feeling like justice will never come.
He added that the sense of loss has stayed with him every day. While others get to return to their lives, he said he is still trying to put his family back together.
“You know, fathers are supposed to be there to protect their child. And that day I feel like I failed, and every day I’m sitting there trying to make it up with the other kids,” he said. “Everybody gets to go back to their regular lives, and I’m still picking up the pieces.”