Verdict is in on man accused of shooting that left East St. Louis 3-year-old paralyzed

A Madison man was found guilty Wednesday for his role in the shooting that left a 3-year-old boy paralyzed and multiple others injured.

A St. Clair County jury found DeAngelo Higgs, guilty on seven counts of attempted first-degree murder, seven counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, and possession of a weapon by a felon.

Higgs, 36, formerly of the 1600 block of Cleveland Avenue in East St. Louis, and two co-defendents, Cartez R. Beard and Lorenzo W. Bruce Jr., had been charged Sept. 9 for the shooting in the area of Martin Luther King Drive and Sixth Street in East St. Louis.

Among those wounded was Mason Mitchell, 3, who was was hit by gunfire while his mother stopped at the East Side Meat Market to buy dinner for her family. Mason has been paralyzed below the spot of his injury ever since. His 8-year-old brother also was in the car, but was not injured.

“I am happy with the verdict. I want justice for my baby,” said Marquisha Collins, the boys’ mother. “They all need to get what they deserve. Their reckless behavior is the reason one of my son’s is paralyzed and his brother, who was in the car at the time, is still traumatized and still has nightmares about the event. He is not able to play with his brother the way the two them used to.”

Collins said her son has endured several surgeries since the shooting and spent months in a hospital and rehabilitation center. She lost her job and is unable to work due to the round-the-clock care Mason needs.

Collins said she hopes Higgs, who represented himself during the trial, uses his time in prison to consider his impact on her family. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 29.

“Now, he has time to sit back and think about what he did to our family, particularly my son who can’t have a normal life. He nearly lost his life,” she said. “Because of his and the others involved actions, he made him a special needs child and changed all of our lives forever.”

The shooting occurred at about 4 p.m. on Sept. 9, 2021. According to Illinois State Police, six other people were shot, including two men from Belleville, ages 49 and 53; two men from East St. Louis, 24 and 53; and a woman from St. Louis, 38. A 25-year-old man from East St. Louis also was hit, causing him to collide with a MetroLink train.

The extent of their injuries has never been released.

It took investigators about 10 hours to locate Higgs, Beard and Bruce hiding in the basement of a partially demolished building in the 600 block of St. Louis Avenue, about a block from the crime scene, state police said.

Beard, 31, pleaded guilty to attempted murder charges on June 17. Bruce, 33, is next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 29.

On the day of the shooting, Collins had worked the night shift at her job and was running errands. She stopped at a convenient store in the area, one she had never gone to before, to grab some quick hot food for children.

She said she was very tired and wanted to do something quick and waited in her car while her brother went into the store to get the food.

That’s when the shooting started, she said.

Collins sped away from the store while trying to call 911, but got no answer. She continued driving until she reached the East St. Louis Police station, where officers took Mason and rushed him to the hospital, she said.

“They didn’t care about the people who were there who didn’t know anything about what they were beefing about,” Collins said of Higgs and his alleged co-offenders.

The case against Higgs was prosecuted by First Assistant State’s Attorney Dan Lewis and Jason Emanuel, chief of the criminal bureau

Illinois State Police were assisted in the investigation by the U.S.Marshal Service, Illinois Law Enforcement Law Systems, St.Clair and Madison County sheriff’s departments and East St. Louis Police.