An alleged rapist who was put on an ankle monitor is now a suspect in the case of his teenage nephew who accidentally shot and killed himself in the Englewood area of Chicago.
The suspect is identified as 25-year-old Kemonte Rice whom a woman accused of raping her at gunpoint in 2024, CWB Chicago reported on Monday.
After Judge Ankur Srivastava sentenced Rice to home confinement with an ankle monitor, the suspect allegedly handed a loaded gun to his 13-year-old nephew, Tawon Tribble Jr., when the shooting happened on March 24.
An image shows the suspect in the case:
September: Charged with raping a woman at gunpoint. Gets sent home on an ankle monitor.
— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) May 26, 2025
Now: Accused of letting his 13-year-old nephew handle a loaded firearm, which discharged and killed the boy. Yes, he was still on electronic monitoring.https://t.co/o0A77s6Pf5
Rice, who is now being held behind bars, reportedly told the boy to unload and clean the bullets of a gun and the boy accidentally shot himself. The suspect is accused of fleeing the residence and going to his mother’s house where he hid the gun.
The CWB Chicago article continued:
Tawon died from a single gunshot wound to his chest. Investigators believe the gun was fired at close range, and lab analysis later found no traces of gunpowder on Rice’s hands or the clothing he wore that day, prosecutors said.
…
Investigators found Rice at his mother’s home, where they took him into custody. Someone in the home allegedly told police they searched the premises for a firearm after Rice arrived, concerned he had brought a gun into the house. That individual reported finding a gun under a mattress and placing it in the freezer inside a pizza box. Another person had already removed the weapon from the freezer and subsequently surrendered it to the Chicago Police Department.
Authorities have since charged Rice with felony child endangerment and obstruction of justice, per Fox 32.
Prior to the charges being brought, prosecutors said Rice told police different versions of what happened but eventually said the gun went off while the boy was playing with it. The suspect was released while the investigation continued, but a witness recorded a phone conversation in which Rice allegedly said he had told the boy to unload the gun and clean the bullets.
“He further stated that Tawon had been posing with the gun while on the phone and that the firearm discharged when Rice tried to take it away, according to the allegations,” the CWB Chicago report added, noting he was recently re-arrested and allegedly told investigators the gun went off when he took it from his nephew’s lap.
In addition to the charges against him, Judge James Murphy III ordered the man to be held in custody. In regard to the sexual assault case, the suspect and a woman were having consensual sex when she told him to stop and he allegedly forced her to continue their activities at gunpoint.
Rice is scheduled to appear in court again on June 10, per CBS News.
It is important to note that 15 people were shot and two of them died over a recent weekend in Democrat-run Chicago, per Breitbart News.
