Man accused of shooting child pleads not guilty

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A man who was arrested last week for shooting a 4-year-old with an airsoft BB gun appeared in court for an arraignment hearing Tuesday.

During the hearing, Chad L. King Jr., 19, of 5280 Torchwood Loop E, Columbus, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of assault, obstructing official business and throwing or shooting missiles.

King was taken into custody late Friday evening by the Urbana Police Division and questioned regarding his involvement in multiple incidents regarding the shooting of an airsoft BB gun at various victims throughout the city over the past week.

King admitted to officers he was the person responsible for causing injuries to 4-year-old Maci Clay around 9:05 p.m. on Aug. 31 near the child’s home. At the time of the incident in which Clay was shot, King was a student at Urbana University and was driving back to campus.

According to the website Hudl.com, King was a member of Urbana University’s football team although he is not listed on the team’s roster on the university website. The Daily Citizen contacted Urbana University to try to confirm if King was still enrolled as a student but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

According to the Champaign County Municipal Court’s website, King was ordered to reside at his Columbus address, observe a curfew of 9 p.m. and have no contact with the victim or their residence. King was also ordered to surrender all weapons to the Urbana Police Division.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Sept. 23.

In a press release from Sunday, Urbana Police Chief Matt Lingrell stated police were continuing to investigate other recent BB gun shootings that injured other victims and had not charged King for those incidents yet, as police were following up on information that other people may have been involved in those incidents.

By Nick Walton

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Nick Walton can be reached at 937-652-1331 Ext. 1777 or on Twitter @UDCWalton.

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