A Chicago man has been arrested in connection with the 2019 shooting death of 14-year-old Takaylah Tribitt. On Tuesday, Deon Simmons, 35, was taken into custody on the city’s South Side, according to The Northwest Indiana Times.

Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, U.S. Marshal’s office, Lake County Sheriff’s office and the Gary, Indiana, Police Department, worked together in the execution of the arrest warrant.

With the help of DNA samples and social media, the team acquired enough evidence to detain Simmons.

“They got a lead and kept on that lead, and uncovered some great evidence,” Cmdr. Jack Hamady of Gary told the publication.

Inspector Nick Gonzalez from the U.S. Marshal’s Great Lakes Regional Task Force praised the various law enforcement agencies on their collaborative efforts.

"I would like to commend all of the officers involved in investigating this case and making an arrest," Martinez said. "I'm especially proud of how officers from several agencies shared information and resources to make progress in the case."

Although it’s unknown what charges Simmons will face, he appeared in court on Wednesday. He was extradited from Cook County to Lake County, according to the The Northwest Indiana Times.

Tribitt went missing in September last year and her body was found days later in an alley in Gary, according to CBS Chicago. Initially, she was identified as a “teenage Jane Doe,” and was thought to have been beaten to death.

A medical examiner revealed the teen died from a single gunshot wound to the head and her death was ruled a homicide.

"We can confirm that, through the use of DNA technology, we have been able to identify the 14-year-old female victim as Takaylah Tribitt, of Chicago," Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. told ABC Chicago in December 2019.

“We are actively pursuing several leads on both sides of the Illinois/Indiana border in the search for suspects and information in the case,” he continued.

In February, a news feature from the Women’s Media Center highlighted the alarming number of missing Black women and girls.

The publication disclosed that roughly 75,000 Black women and girls are missing. Subsequently, law enforcement has been criticized for lacking urgency when investigating missing person cases specifically in the Black community.

The Women's Media Center also imparted that the Black community has a high number of cases because of various racial and economic disparities.

“Tens of thousands of Black women and girls who are missing include abductees, sex trafficking victims, and runaways,” the article highlighted. “Black women and girls exist at the intersection of racism and sexism, and quite often poverty."

“These barriers contribute to disparate and poor outcomes in many areas, including but not limited to health, wealth, housing, education, employment, food security, access to water, and violence,” the article continued.

Additionally, The Voice of Cincinnatti wrote that Black American girls make up 40% of human trafficking victims.

Takayla Tribitt

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