Chicago is reeling after prosecutors revealed disturbing details about the killing of 17-year-old football standout Deangelo Miles, who was gunned down in June over a pair of borrowed designer sneakers.
Authorities say 18-year-old Jamarie Burns faces charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery after luring Miles to his death in a scheme to steal Rick Owens’ shoes worth more than $1,000.
Investigators said Burns, who was 17 at the time, contacted Miles in the early hours of June 1 as the teen was leaving an after-prom party.
Miles, a recent Hansberry College Prep graduate, was wearing a friend’s pair of Rick Owens sneakers in European size 43.
Miles had been texting and FaceTiming someone identified as “Mari” shortly before a Dodge Durango pulled up on the 11900 block of South Wallace Street in West Pullman.
Surveillance footage showed Burns walking through an alley as the SUV arrived.
Two males jumped out of the Durango and confronted Miles. Prosecutors said the teen tried to run, but the attackers opened fire, striking him in the back of the neck.
He collapsed and died at the scene. By the time officers arrived, the designer sneakers had been stripped from his feet.
Within 15 minutes of the shooting, prosecutors allege Burns met friends and revealed the stolen sneakers. He reportedly pulled them out of a bag and took a photo of a friend posing with them.
When police executed a search warrant on Burns’ phone, they uncovered damning evidence: a photograph of his friend wearing the Rick Owens shoes, deleted messages to Miles that disappeared an hour after the killing, and Google searches for “size 43 in rick owens.”
Authorities also pointed to a text Burns allegedly sent seven hours later, bragging that he had gotten “Ricks” for free and planned to sell them.
Burns had already caught police attention earlier this year when he was stopped in the same Dodge Durango that appeared in surveillance footage. The SUV is registered to a relative of his.
Judge Shauna Boliker ordered Burns detained, describing the case as a “brazen, cold-blooded taking of a life.”
Burns, who was a juvenile at the time of the crime, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and armed robbery with a firearm.
Meanwhile, Hansberry College Prep issued a heartfelt statement honoring Miles, saying:
“Our hearts are heavy as we grieve his passing. We extend our deepest sympathies and offer our thoughts and prayers to his family, friends, and all those affected by this tragic loss.”
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Miles’ death shocked his community. Friends and family remembered him as a promising student-athlete whose life ended far too soon.
The 17-year-old had just graduated with the class of 2025 and was preparing to begin the next chapter of his life.
Instead, his name has now become synonymous with the senseless violence that continues to plague Chicago’s streets.
