The sad story of America's youngest hired killer

On September 1st 1994, in the streets of the American city of Chicago, Illinois the dead body of an 11 year old African American boy was discovered with two bullet holes in his skull.

As the story of the gruesome discovery filtered through the media, a shocked nation was forced to confront the ugly reality of gang violence which many knew about, but few had the courage to talk about.

The lifeless body was identified as Robert Sandifer, or as he was known to his family and friends: "Little Yummy." But who was "Little Yummy" and why was his life cut so tragically short?
Life was harsh and unforgiving for Robert Sandifer (aka Little Yummy) right from the very beginning. Born on March 12, 1983, Sandifer's mother, Lorina Sandifer, had over 100 arrests for prostituting, many of which were drug related. Sandifer's father, Robert Akins, was absent for all of Sandifer's life due to incarceration for unlawful gun ownership.

By the time he was 8 years old, Sandifer was already a career criminal, known for bullying and stealing money from other children and the community in the Chicago neighborhood of Roseland.

He was also an expert car thief who had a preference and liking for luxury cars, and remarkably, was able to drive them despite his small size.

By the age of 10 he had already been arrested 23 times by the police. Many of his 23 felonies and 5 misdemeanors were committed in the course of running errands for street gangs. Because of his extremely young age, the penal system had no way to keep him out of trouble and the courts were helpless to lock him away as he was consisered too young for juvenile detention and too dangerous to be placed with children his age.

He was therefore able to continue his criminal career without ever serving any sort of punishment for committing crimes for which an adult would have received a lengthy sentence.

A street gang called the Black Disciples, recognising the advantages of having a criminal on their payroll who was effectively immune from criminal prosecution hired Little Yummy as a hitman just after his 11th birthday.

On August 28, 1994, Yummy was ordered to carry out an assassination for his gang. He opened fire several times with a 9 millimeter semiautomatic pistol, striking several youths. Yummy quickly fled the scene.

Among the victims was Shavon Dean, age 14, who later died from her gunshot wounds. The crime spree made national headlines. The nation was shocked by the brutality of the crime and the fact that the alleged perpetrator was 11 years old. The Chicago Police began a manhunt for Little Yummy.

On August 31, while still in hiding, Yummy was met by brothers Cragg and Derrick Hardaway, ages 16 and 14, who were members of his gang The Black Disciples. They convinced Yummy that they would take him to a safe hiding place and ordered him into a waiting car. Instead, he was taken to an abandoned building and told to get on his knees.

While on his knees, he was shot twice in the back of the head by the Hardaway brothers. Yummy's body was discovered by the Chicago Police Department in the early morning of September 1. Both Hardaways were later convicted of Yummy's murder. Yummy's funeral was held at the Youth Center Church of God in Christ on Chicago's Northwest Side.