On Saturday, a nine-year-old girl riding her scooter in her neighborhood was fatally shot in the head, execution style, by her neighbor, reportedly for being “too loud”. The victim, Serabi Medina, had been outside with her father, enjoying some ice cream they had just bought from a vendor. After her father heard a gunshot, he swiftly ushered her inside. Tragically, the shooter, 43-year-old Michael Goodman, emerged from his building and followed Serabi to the entrance of her own building, where he shot her point blank in the head. Despite her father’s valiant efforts to intervene, he could not save his daughter. A struggle ensued, during which Serabi’s father managed to tackle Goodman, resulting in Goodman accidentally shooting himself in the face with his own firearm. Goodman, now detained without bail, faces one felony count of first-degree murder in this heart-breaking incident.
Thus far, law enforcement has not released a photograph or description of Goodman. Serabi’s family, however, has published photos of her.
From WFLD-TV on Goodman’s bail hearing:
As Serabi got close to the front door of her apartment, Goodman came out of his apartment building across the street holding a gun. A nearby witness alerted others to Goodman who they saw crossing the street with a gun in his hand, approaching Serabi, prosecutors said.
Michael Medina shouted at Goodman but he was ignored. Goodman followed Serabi to the vestibule of her building where he pulled out a gun and shot her in the head, per the court documents.
“When he raised the gun up, Mike seen him and said, ‘that’s my daughter!’ Mike starts moving towards him, he walks up to her and shoots her right in the head,” said Rene Aquino, eyewitness and friend of Serabi’s father.
Michael Medina tackled Goodman into the vestibule and the gun went off again, striking Goodman in the eye, prosecutors said.
According to The Chicago Sun-Times, Goodman had complained to Serabi’s father, Michael Medina, about the children being too loud:
Neighbors say Goodman had complained of kids being too loud before and confronted Serabi’s father about the noise before the attack.
“Yesterday, when he came out, before he shot her, he had said something about them being too loud,” neighbor and family friend Megan Kelley said Sunday.
The noise wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, just sounds of kids playing, but Goodman was especially irritated, Kelley said.
“It just didn’t make sense. None of it made sense,” Kelley said. “Everybody in the community would just tell him they are just kids having fun playing, just let them be.”
…James, another neighbor who brought sunflowers and stuffed animals, described Serabi as “Daddy’s little girl.”
Serabi “was always riding around out here back and forth,” said James, who asked that his last name not be used. “She didn’t deserve to go.”
Sadly, in 2019, Serabi’s mother, Miranda Blanca, was also shot and killed in Chicago.
Watch the WGN-TV video report:
