INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man was sentenced to probation after he made a false statement during the purchase of a gun that was used in the killing of a Chicago girl in 2021.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, 25-year-old Eric Lamar Keys Jr. was sentenced for making a false statement while purchasing a firearm.

Documents said that officers with the Chicago Police Department were dispatched to a shooting at a McDonald’s in April 2021. When officers arrived, they found a man shot in the stomach and a 6-year-old girl who had been shot and killed. The release said the suspect was arrested and one of the guns used in the shooting, a Glock .40 caliber pistol, was purchased by Keys 48 days before the incident.

Officials said that Keys declared on a required federal firearms purchase form that he was the actual buyer of the firearm, which was a false statement. The release said that Keys intended to purchase the gun for a person who was prohibited from possessing a gun.

“The tragic loss of a little girl’s life is an unfortunate example of how those who straw purchase firearms can be directly responsible for gun violence plaguing our communities,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Zachary A. Myers said in the release. “Gun traffickers help arm criminals who should never have had access to deadly weapons in the first place. Our office is committed to working closely with the ATF and local law enforcement agencies to address the sources of crime guns to reduce gun violence—and to hold gun traffickers accountable in federal court.”

This comes as a number of individuals have recently been sentenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana for straw purchasing firearms. According to the release, these cases were investigated with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with local and regional law enforcement partners.

Along with the two-year probation period, Keys is required to pay a $800 fine, the release said.