Robert Sandifer

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Robert "Yummy" Sandifer
Born	March 12, 1983 (1983-03-12) Chicago, Illinois
Died	September 1, 1994 (aged 11) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Penalty	Probation
Status	deceased
Occupation	gangster Black Disciples

Robert "Yummy" Sandifer (March 12, 1983 – September 1, 1994) appeared on the cover of Time Magazine in September 1994 after his death.^[1] Commonly nicknamed Yummy for his penchant for cookies and Snickers Bars, was an African American gangster and member of the Black Disciples who lived a short life of thuggery including murder, arson and armed robbery throughout the nineties, and became an item in national media and activist circles when he was executed by his south Chicago gang for fear that he would crumble under police pressure.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Criminal behavior 3 Homicide 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Early life

Yummy's mother, one of ten children from four different fathers, had her first son at age 15. Never finishing high school, she had become addicted to crack by her teen years and was on welfare to support her children. Her second son ended up going blind because she neglected to treat an eye condition he had at an early age, and that was when the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) became involved. Yummy was himself abused at a very early age and eventually sent off to live with his grandmother Jane Fields, in her 30's, the residence of which contained as many as 19 children on some occasions. At eight years of age, he ceased to go to school full time and would be found out on the streets stealing cars and breaking into houses. The year before his death he was removed to a DCFS shelter on Chicago's north side, which he subsequently escaped from to go on one last crime binge.

[edit] Criminal behavior

Yummy was known for extortion and terrorizing local children and the community in the Chicago neighborhood of Roseland. He had a fondness of luxury cars such as Lincolns and Cadillacs, and his ability to drive well was remarkable, being so small that he still couldn't get on many of the rides at Six Flags Great America. Many of his crimes, including his 23 felonies and 5 misdemeanors total, were performed while running gangland errands. The penal system had no way to keep him out of trouble and the courts were helpless to lock him away because he was too young for juvenile detention and too dangerous to be placed with children his age.

[edit] Homicide

On August 28, 1994, Yummy walked up to fifteen year old Kianta Britten and asked him to which gang he belonged. Kianta responded that he didn't belong to any gang, and Yummy opened fire on him with a semiautomatic pistol hitting him in the stomach with one bullet and also catching a nerve with another bullet leaving him partially paralyzed. Later on that same day, Yummy fired on some rival gangmembers and a stray bullet hit Shavon Dean in the head and killed her as she was walking home from a friend's house.

For the next three days, fellow gang members from the Black Disciples kept Yummy on the move, evading the police investigation of the shootings. Yummy was last seen by a neighbor on August 31, waiting for his grandmother to pick him up, but instead two brothers (14 and 16 years of age) from his gang got to him first. Telling him they were going to take him out of the city, he was brought to a viaduct underpass and executed. He was found later in a muddy pool of blood with two gunshot wounds to the head.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Grace, Julie. "There Are No Children Here". Time Magazine. September 12, 1994.

• Hewitt, Bill. "Death at An Early Age". People Magazine. September 19, 1994. Vol 42. No. 12.

• Kirby, Joseph A. "The Death of Dantrell Davis". Chicago Tribune. October 13, 1992.

• Long, Elizabeth Valk. "To Our Readers". Time Magazine. September 19, 1994.

[edit] External links

• Gibbs, Nancy, R. (September 19, 1994). "Murder in Minature". TIME magazine.