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.
Confused??? About what? Because it took several shots to down the victim????
We may be seeing a case of the older asking the younger to be the trigger man in order to avoid prison.
Note how they left and returned to gun down the victim.
It's possible that the older retreived a stashed gun and convinced his younger cousin to pull the trigger.
Questions are not too answerable. CSI is not a bit like reality.
Most likely the kid had a low power handgun, maybe a .25, with terrible sights and worse trigger, and with no training but shooting it a few times. Also it was dark and the shooting was as close as possible. As far as both shoulders, etc., even "experts" often miss four shots out of five at twenty feet at night when excited and in fear for their lives. No way to tell what happened in this incident from the news story.
His posting history in the few hours he's been a member shows a lot of "sensitivety" and "progressiveness".
Give him enough rope.
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.
In my day you had to be in before the street lights were on. But that was the sixties.
Most 12-year olds are 8th graders, no. That's middle school. Elementary school where I'm from is K-5 or 6.
When I was 12 I was in 8th grade. That means you were 6 when you were in kindergarten?
Most 12 year olds are 8th graders? Are you insane?
Well, to be 12 in 8th grade you'd have to be in KG at the age of 6. All the kids I know hit KG when they're 5 or going on 5.
I'm off a bit, but not entirely.
My oldest daughter and all her classmates in the 5th grade have just turned eleven or are turning eleven. My youngest daughter and all her classmates in the 1st grade have just turned seven or are turning seven over the course of the school year. You do the math.
Got it. Frankly, it's not worth the time we've been spending on this. Perhaps the schools are starting them later now, I don't know. Frankly, don't care too much either. Good chattin' however. : )
"I guess he's reacting like any 12-year-old child would act -- he's scared, upset, confused
----Don't speak for all 12 year olds. Mine at 12 knew better than to murder someone. As far as being scared and confused, he had his wits about him when he shot the man 4 times. Quit molly coddling these little bastards and make them pay for what they did like anybody else.
Just as I said in reply #46, give him enough rope.
"Two Sides Same Coin" is history.
Good riddance to him.
Yes, that's why I mentioned my birth month. If you turned 5 by sept, you could get into kindergarten. My birthday is Oct, so I had to wait until I was almost 6.
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