Fry 'im.
-Dan
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.
-Dan
Buy, but, but handguns are illegal in Chicago! How can this be? /sarc
hey, he's not old enough to buy a gun so how could this even happen
Didn't have a problem acting like an adult while shooting the guy. What's he doing packen in the first place if he wasn't acting like an adult? I have no sympathy for him. I'll leave that for his relatives who I am sure will only have kind words about what a good boy he is.
Wonder if the 12 year old is taking the heat for the crime instead of his older cousin?
Out in 9 years. No problem.
The trial will probably take that long.
Unless he's treated like the youngster who killed the 6 year old girl by body slamming her until she died. Civil rights groups whined until he was turned loose and he's been in trouble with the law ever since. They can send the kid to "treatment" until he's 21, but his parents ought to be in jail forever!
I remember a news years ago there were two 10 year old boys from Britain who murdered a toddler. They got jail terms to the time they were of age (21). Rumours were that both had their identity completely changed when released and at one point the British government considered forcing them immigrate to one of the "old" Commonwealth countries (Canada, Australia, New Zealand). Of course each of these countries rejected the plan.
Had these two young men made it to Canada, I promise there would be two new criminal elements in America soon afterwards. I wonder what this 12 year-old will fare?
In that neighborhood shootings over street crap games happen all of the time. Sometimes several times in one night.
Is that anywhere near the socialist mecca of Cabrini Greens?
Leroy Brown Town.
Actually no. Cabrini is an island slum in the (richer) NW side.
Yet according to the story, this killer has "parents". Huh.
I suspect that the dead guy, Deon McGary, has relatives.
This 12-year-old is likely not going to survive very long once he is released from the "protective custody" of jail (or juvenile detention, whatever).
News ? This is a requirement for Detroit grade school.
A 12-year old in elementary school? Could be part of the problem here.
Probably out after 4 years of "self-esteem" councelling. By then he will have so much "self-seteem" that he will feel entitled to kill people right and left.
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