CHICAGO — A Chicago man was charged with first-degree murder Friday in connection with the slaying of a 9-year-old boy who police say was lured from a playground and shot in the head because of his father’s gang ties.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said the suspect, 27-year-old Corey Morgan, is a gang member with an extensive criminal history. McCarthy said two other men, including one jailed on an unrelated gun charge, also are suspected in the death of Tyshawn Lee, who was shot in an alley near his grandmother’s home on Nov. 2.

Prosecutors allege Morgan was intent on settling the score after an October shooting killed his brother and injured his mother in a months-long gang feud.

But his attorney, Jonathan Brayman, said Morgan “absolutely denies” being involved in the boy’s death.

McCarthy said the three men’s precise roles were still under investigation, but that all were members of the same gang.

“They’re going to be obliterated. That gang just signed its own death warrant,” McCarthy said during a news conference.

Tyshawn’s slaying shocked a city already grimly familiar with gang violence. The fourth-grader was shot at close range – in the head and back – in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

McCarthy praised local residents, saying they overcame fears and risks of retaliation to come forward and offer tips to police.

“If you have a monster who’s willing to assassinate a 9-year-old, what is that person likely to do if they know that somebody’s cooperating with the case?” McCarthy said at a news conference.