Uncle convicted of murder after giving his niece a gun which she used to kill a teen over a Facebook dispute

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A 27-year-old man has been convicted of
murder after he gave his 14-year-old niece a
revolver, which she then used to kill another
teenager over a Facebook dispute.
A jury found him guilty of murder in the
killing of the teen girl rejecting a claim by his
defense attorney that the man was only
trying to protect his niece when he brought
a revolver to the confrontation that ended
with Endia Martin dead.
Donnell Flora, 27, was found guilty of first-degree
murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery
charges in the death of 14-year-old Endia, who
Cook County prosecutors say was shot by Flora's
niece outside a home in Chicago's Back of the
Yards neighborhood in April 2014 .
The defense rested Friday, with Flora
testifying that he brought the gun to the
confrontation but never intended for the
weapon to end up in his niece's hands. The
shooting suspect, whom the Tribune is not
naming because she has been charged as a
juvenile, is now 16 and has yet to stand
trial.
In closing arguments Saturday at the
Leighton Criminal Court Building,
prosecutors argued that had it not been for
Flora, the .38-caliber revolver would have
never arrived to the scene, and Endia would
still be alive. He therefore had to be held
accountable for his actions, said Assistant
State's Attorney Barbara Bailey.
"Life is precious. No one knows that
more than the family of Endia Martin.
No one knows that more than the
defendant," Bailey said.
Instead of protecting his niece from gun
violence, Flora, who has used a wheelchair
since a 2010 shooting left him paralyzed
from the waist down, made her part of the
cycle of violence, Bailey said.
"He became her provider — the
provider of a handgun," Bailey said.
"When there were about 1,000 other
options that could've been taken by an
adult, he chose to continue the cycle."
In arguing that Flora should be found not
guilty, defense attorney Joel Brodsky
brought up the role of self-defense in the
case, claiming Flora's only intention in
involving the gun in the confrontation was to
protect his niece. Brodsky said the niece's
rival, Lanekia Reynolds, who was also
Endia's best friend and a witness to the
killing who testified during the trial, had
posted Facebook threats to Flora's niece.
"These were not mere threats," Brodsky
said. "They were 'I'm going to kill you. I'm
going to out you in the ground next to your
dad.'"
Flora’s "only intent was to protect his niece,"
Brodsky said.
"It was not the brightest idea he ever had.
But it doesn't change the fact that that was
his intent."
But Assistant State's Attorney Athena Farmakis
told jurors not to consider the self-defense
argument because while Flora's niece had the
revolver to the confrontation, Reynolds was armed
with a chain with a lock.
"This, versus this?" Farmakis asked the jury,
holding the lock in one hand and the
revolver in the other. The lock couldn't
possibly cause as much bodily harm as the
gun, she said.
Endia's friends and family members were in court
for the closing arguments, and sat still for the
daylong proceedings, silently looking on.
The case went to the jury Saturday after hours of
closing arguments, with jurors starting
deliberations at 3:38 p.m. and coming back with
their verdict just after 5:30 p.m.
After the verdict was read, as the jury left the
room, Flora began rocking back and forth in his
wheelchair and briefly put his head down.
Farmakis said her office was pleased with the
verdict.
"We do believe that justice was done,"
Farmakis said.
After the verdict, Brodsky said he planned to
appeal the jury's determination. He said he thinks
"second-degree murder or child endangerment"
would've been more appropriate for his client.
"It's a very difficult thing to see the body of
a dead 14-year old girl ... and not want to
make somebody have to pay for that," he
said of the jury's decision.