:Robert Sandifer

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Robert Sandifer

| image_name = Robert sandifer.jpg

| image_caption = Mugshot of Sandifer

| alias = "Yummy"

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1983|3|12}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|9|1|1983|3|12}}

| death_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| death_cause = Gunshot wounds

| charge = Arson, armed robbery, drug possession

| conviction_penalty = Probation

| conviction_status = Deceased

| occupation = Street gang member
(Black Disciples)

}}

Robert Sandifer (March 12, 1983{{cite web | url=https://steemit.com/news/@intunejune/the-sad-chicago-story-of-yummy-sandifer | title=The Sad Chicago Story of Yummy Sandifer | date=July 16, 2017 }} – September 1, 1994), also known as Yummy, was an African-American boy from Chicago, Illinois. His murder by fellow gang members in Chicago garnered national attention because of his age,{{cite news|title=To Our Readers|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981476,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122214748/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981476,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 22, 2011|access-date=March 30, 2011|newspaper=Time|date=September 19, 1994|author=Long, Elizabeth Valk}}{{cite news|title=Murder in Miniature|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981460,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428135038/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981460,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 28, 2007|access-date=March 30, 2011|newspaper=Time|date=September 19, 1994|author=Gibbs, Nancy R.|author2=Grace, Julie|author3=Hull, Jon D.}}{{cite news|title=There Are No Children Here|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981434,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080122002201/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981434,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 22, 2008|access-date=March 30, 2011|newspaper=Time|date=September 12, 1994|author=Grace, Julie}}{{cite news|title=Death at an Early Age|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20103912,00.html|access-date=March 30, 2011|newspaper=People|date=September 19, 1994|author=Hewitt, Bill|pages=52–54}} resulting in his appearance on the cover of Time magazine in September 1994. His nickname originates from his love for cookies. Standing 4 ft 6 in (137 cm), Sandifer was a young member of the Chicago street gang the Black Disciples (BD).

After committing murder, theft, and armed robbery, he was murdered by his own fellow gang members who feared Sandifer could become a “snitch” and expose their criminal activities to authorities if he were arrested. Coverage of Sandifer's death and retrospectives on his short, violent life were widely published in the American media. Sandifer became a symbol of the gang problem in American inner cities, the failure of social safety nets, and the shortcomings of the juvenile justice system.

Early life

Robert Sandifer was born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 12, 1983. Sandifer's mother, Lorina Sandifer, had over 30 arrests while prostituting,{{Cite web|url=https://morbidology.com/too-young-to-kill-too-young-to-die-robert-yummy-sandifer/|title=Too Young to Kill, Too Young to Die – Robert "Yummy" Sandifer • Morbidology|date=January 19, 2018}} many of which were drug-related. Sandifer's father, Robert Akins, was absent throughout Sandifer's life due to incarceration for a felony gun charge. Sandifer was physically abused from the time he was an infant.{{cite journal |last1=Powers |first1=Mike |title=Stop the Violence |journal=Human Ecology Forum |date=Winter 1995 |volume=23 |issue=1 }}

Before he was three years old, Sandifer was already known to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Physical examinations showed that Sandifer was alleged to have had cigarette burns on his arms and neck as well as linear bruising consistent with physical beatings. Lorina initially blamed the abuse on Sandifer's father, although she later recanted.{{cite news |last1=Papajohn |first1=George |title=Robert: Executed At 11 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-09-02-9409020325-story.html |access-date=June 10, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=September 2, 1994}}

In 1987, Sandifer and his siblings were removed from his mother's home by DCFS and were sent to live with their grandmother in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago. His grandmother's residence contained as many as 19 children on some occasions. By most accounts, his grandmother's home was not much better than Sandifer's previous home.

By the age of eight, Sandifer quit attending school and began to roam the streets stealing cars and breaking into houses. At the age of ten, Sandifer was arrested on charges of armed robbery. A psychological examiner at the time reported that "Robert is a child growing up without any encouragement and support," and that he "has a sense of failure that has infiltrated almost every aspect of his inner self."

In 1993, Sandifer and his siblings were removed from his grandmother's home and were sent to the Lawrence Hall DCFS shelter on Chicago's North Side, from which Sandifer ran away and never returned. From 1993 until his death, Sandifer's whereabouts and living arrangements remain unclear, although he continued to be arrested by the authorities.

= Murder of Shavon Dean =

On August 28, 1994, Sandifer's gang associates ordered him to ambush their rivals as an initiation test, since his age made him less conspicuous. He opened fire several times with a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, striking several youths. Sandifer quickly fled the scene. Among his victims was a 14-year-old girl, Shavon Dean, who was fatally hit by a stray bullet.{{cite news |title=Two fellow gang members charged in execution of 11-year-old |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/crime-clipping-sep-03-1994-1215300/ |work=Daily Herald|agency=Associated Press|page=6|via=NewspaperArchive|date=September 3, 1994|access-date=September 18, 2023|archive-date=September 19, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230919040148/https://newspaperarchive.com/crime-clipping-sep-03-1994-1215300/}}

Death

After the shooting, the police were looking for Sandifer, who was hiding with gang members in his neighborhood. On August 31, 1994, while standing on a neighbor's porch after trying to call his grandmother and asking for prayers as he was going to turn himself in, Sandifer was met by brothers Cragg Hardaway, 16, and Derrick Hardaway, 14, who were both members of the Black Disciples street gang. Sandifer was told he was being taken to a safe location out of town and ordered into a waiting car.

Instead, he was taken to a railroad underpass at East 108th Street and South Dauphin Avenue and told to get on his knees. While kneeling, Sandifer was shot twice in the back of the head by the two Hardaway brothers. Sandifer's body was discovered by the Chicago Police Department in the early morning hours of September 1, 1994.{{Cite news | author = Sharon Cohen | title = Locked up at 14 for an infamous murder, living with regrets and dreaming of a future | url = http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20071218/YOUTH/71214002?p=4&tc=pg | newspaper = Star-News | date = December 18, 2007 | access-date = January 4, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131214184720/http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20071218/YOUTH/71214002?p=4&tc=pg | archive-date = December 14, 2013 | url-status = live }}{{Cite news|title = 11-year-old 'Yummy' Sandifer was on the run for killing a teenage girl. Then he was killed by his own gang in a Chicago story that shocked the nation 25 years ago.|date = August 30, 2019|url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-yummy-sandifer-25-years-later-20190829-3xrgt2onqrgd7bqiyxmjm3n2ri-story.html|author1=Lee, William |author2=Buckley, Madeline |newspaper = Chicago Tribune|access-date = August 31, 2019}}

Around 400 people attended Sandifer's funeral, which was held at the Youth Center of the Church of God in Christ on Chicago's Northwest Side.{{Cite news|title = In an 11-Year-Old's Funeral, a Grim Lesson|date = September 8, 1994|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/08/us/in-an-11-year-old-s-funeral-a-grim-lesson.html|first = Don|last = Terry|newspaper = The New York Times|access-date = September 15, 2013}}

The two Hardaway brothers were later convicted of Robert Sandifer's murder. Derrick received a 45-year sentence and Cragg received a 60-year sentence. Derrick was released from prison in December 2016. Cragg was released from prison in December 2020.{{cite web |last1=Bogert |first1=Carroll |title=I Wasn't a Superpredator. I Was a Kid Who Made a Terrible Decision. |url=https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/11/20/i-wasn-t-a-superpredator-i-was-a-kid-who-made-a-terrible-decision |website=The Marshall Project |date=November 20, 2020 |access-date=April 6, 2021}}