Free Republic

A woman who live-streamed herself and a trio of friends abusing a mentally disabled man and taunting him with racial insults was sentenced to probation Friday after spending nearly a year behind bars. Brittany Covington, 19, had been held at the Cook County Jail without bond since January, when she and co-defendants Tesfaye Cooper, Jordan Hill and her 24-year-old sister Tanishia Covington were arrested on kidnapping and hate-crime charges. The plea deal prosecutors made with Brittany Covington makes her the first of the four to be released, though she will remain on probation for four years and is barred from...

When hate crime charges were brought against four suspects accused of kidnapping and torturing a schizophrenic 18-year-old man yesterday, it was not immediately clear if the charges stemmed from the victim’s race or from the fact that he was mentally-challenged. The AP reports today that the four suspects were charged with two separate hate crimes, one based on the victim’s race and the other based on his disability. Lawyers for the four suspects portrayed them as responsible adults and asked a judge to grant them bail so they could return home while they await trial. The Associated Press reports the...

Chicago cops just slapped 4 suspects with multiple charges -- including hate crime -- for kidnapping and torturing the 18-year-old man in that horrific Facebook Live video. Jordan Hill, Tesfaye Cooper, Brittany Covington and Tanishia Covington were charged Thursday with aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Jordan was additionally charged with robbery and possession of a stolen vehicle. Three of the 4, including Jordan, were also charged with residential burglary. The victim had been missing since Sunday and was found disoriented Wednesday. Cops later identified him as the man in the social...