Teen charged in Chicago shooting that killed 1, wounded 4
CHICAGO (AP) — A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder in a February shooting at a crowded Chicago convenience store in which a young nursing student was killed and four other people were wounded, police said.
The teen, whose name was not released because he is charged as a juvenile, faces one count of first-degree murder and four felony counts of attempted murder in the attack, officials said Wednesday.
Investigators said after the Feb. 25 shooting that surveillance video showed three people approach Ali’s Minimart on Chicago’s South Side, look inside the crowded store and open fire. About 20 shots were fired into the building, police said.
Jaya Beemon, 18, was pronounced dead at a hospital after she was hit in the neck while apparently buying snacks, police said. Beemon had been a nursing student at Malcolm X College, WLS-TV reported.
Four other people who ranged in age at the time from 17 to 63 years old were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. A young man in the store who was the apparent target of the attack wasn't harmed, police said.
Police spokeswoman Kellie Bartoli said Thursday that no other arrests had been made in the shooting and that the department couldn't release additional information, including about whether detectives know the identities of the other two shooters, because the investigation is ongoing.
Shortly after Beemon was pronounced dead, her mother, Nyisha Beemon, was charged with battery and resisting arrest after she allegedly pushed and kicked a police officer while being dragged from a hospital emergency room officers were trying to clear.
Prosecutors later dropped those charges. Aviva Bowen, a spokeswoman for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, said in a statement at the time that prosecutors “determined the case should not be pursued and are moving to quickly dismiss the charges, so that a grieving mother can mourn the loss of her daughter in peace.”
