Posted on 11/19/2005 11:40:15 PM PST by Graybeard58
A 12-year-old boy was charged with first-degree murder Friday after he allegedly pulled out a handgun and shot a man four times during a street dice game in the pre-dawn hours on Chicago's Far South Side last Sunday.
The boy -- one of the youngest in recent memory to be charged with murder in Cook County -- continued firing even after the 26-year-old victim fell to the ground, a law enforcement source told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Deon McGary of Hazel Crest was shot in each shoulder, his right bicep and groin, another source said.
The boy allegedly opened fire soon after McGary and the boy's cousin exchanged words and then tussled, sources said, but it wasn't clear what provoked the original argument.
The boy, a student at Avalon Park Elementary School, was charged days after he and his parents showed up at the Calumet Area police station on the Far South Side.
'He's scared, upset'
"I guess he's reacting like any 12-year-old child would act -- he's scared, upset, confused," said the boy's attorney, Steven Fine, who refused to discuss details of the case with a reporter.
The boy was being held in the Cook County juvenile detention center over the weekend, said John Gorman, a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office. He is expected to appear in court Monday, Gorman said. A judge will decide whether the boy should remain in custody or be released to a parent or guardian. The Chicago Sun-Times is not naming the 12-year-old because he is a juvenile.
The boy was apparently watching the dice game on the street in the 10400 block of South Maryland shortly after midnight Saturday when the fight broke out. Some witnesses told investigators the boy had come with his teenage cousin, who was playing dice with three or four others. McGary also was watching the game, sources said.
After the fight, the boy and his cousin fled together. Michael Holzman, an attorney for the cousin, said he received a phone call from his client's parents Sunday night. The parents said police had called and wanted to talk to the 12-year-old and his cousin, Holzman said. Accompanied by their parents, the boy and his cousin turned themselves in earlier this week. The cousin was questioned and later released, Holzman said.
Could be held until 21 years old
Under state law, a 12-year-old cannot be charged as an adult. Prosecutors can seek to have a 13-year-old charged with murder tried as an adult. But only those 15 years old and above are automatically tried as adults in murder cases in Illinois.
Kathy Bankhead, who is chief of the Cook County state's attorney's Juvenile Justice Bureau, said Friday she couldn't recall a recent case in which a 12-year-old has been charged with murder in the county.
"For a kid 12, 13, even 14, to be the main (shooter) is rare," she said. If convicted of the murder charge, the 12-year-old could be held in a treatment facility until his 21st birthday, Bankhead said.
Where I live it's generally considered in bad taste to continue firing after they fall to the ground.
"Wonder if the 12 year old is taking the heat for the crime instead of his older cousin?"
That is what I was thinking.
Poor little boy.
Execute him...quickly!
Celebrate diversity!
Could be held until 21 years old
This is all so dam absurd.
You are right, it certainly seems more likely that an actual player in the game would be the shooter, and of course it is most likely NOT the 12 y.o. who did the killing. The cops need to round up the rest of the crap-shooters here for sure to find out what really happened. But why are this kid's parent(s) letting him confess? Maybe I'm foolish to ask that, the whole family may be a bunch of criminals and they figure this kid will do soft-time in Juvie detention and the cousin will be off the hook.
Twelve years old would put him in 6th grade, that is elementary school.
"hey, he's not old enough to buy a gun so how could this even happen"
Heck, he's not even old enough to be out "in the pre-dawn hours" but that didn't seem to be a problem.
So - pulling out a gun and repeatedly shooting someone is "reacting like any 12-year-old?"
I guess we know where the kid gets it from. I wonder if a "parent" is the one who put him up to it in the first place? Just wait until Jessie Jackass decides this is racial persecution and gets the boy tried as a juvenile -
Damn, I must be a horrible parent. My son is 13 and my daughter will be 12 in Jan, and I let them stay out until 9pm. No one that age had to be in at 8, even in my day.
Sounds normal to me. Since my birthday is Oct, I was 12 in the 6th grade.
It's unlikely that he's taking the heat for his cousin. This has actually become SOP for inner city gangs. Make the youngest the trigger men because they can't get real time. The whole culture is sicker than most of us can even imagine. They actually start by making 6 and 7 year olds feed puppies and kittens to pit bulls and rotweilers to desensitize them.
Sure, go ahead, attack a dead man and call him racist.
RIP, Jim Croce
Was he homeschooled? You know those kids can be a problem.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.