chicago police department crime
Courtesy the Chicago Police Department
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Welcome to Cook County, Illinois, where crime often has no meaningful consequences.  Between a State’s Attorney’s Office reluctant to file charges and judges who mollycoddles defendants, Chicagoland has become the modern Wild West.

Case in point: a 14-year-old who (reportedly) shot and tried to kill two in a nice uptown neighborhood was released by a judge Friday to his parent with no bond – not even electronic home monitoring.

The Cook County judge claims the police failed to bring this suspected would-be gang killer (pictured above, right) in front of a judge quickly enough. So the judge, in order to penalize the police, released the kid without conditions other than to report to court next week.

Of course, the judge is really only penalizing the community as the accused certainly missed his calling as a choir boy.

The police, on the other hand, said they had concerns about the young man’s safety.  Police released images of the suspects to the media in an effort to identify them and the media published them.

The Chicago mainstream media refer to the accused as a “boy.”  Even though this “boy” reportedly shot one man in the back, abdomen, buttocks and groin and the other in the head.

The Chicago Tribune reported from the scene:

Ricardo Spence had been on his way home from work and just turned the corner to walk south on North Kenmore Avenue when he heard shot after shot behind him, counting as many as six. People started screaming and running. A lone man bolted past him. He thought the man must be the shooter.

“I could tell by the way he was running,” Spence said.

He went back north toward Argyle Street and looked to his right, toward the commotion. He saw blood pooling around a man on the ground as a woman held him, screaming “No.” Other people were starting to help, Spence said.

He stood there and watched. It seemed like there was nothing he could do.

“It was … chaotic,” Spence said. “I was just like, it’s crazy. I just moved here. I didn’t think it was going to be like this.”

The trains kept letting people off at Argyle, and Nolan Van Jackson walked out of the station heading east. He passed by the area where Spence was standing, and saw the woman kneeling next to the man on the ground, hugging him. She seemed like someone who loved him, Van Jackson said. He heard her yelling, “Breathe, breathe, breathe.”


From CWB Chicago on the release of the suspect:

The 14-year-old boy charged with Monday’s double-shooting at the Argyle Red Line station was released without supervision by a judge after an initial hearing today in juvenile court.

A spokesperson for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx told CWBChicago this afternoon that “we requested the minor be held in custody [but] Court made the finding that under the law, the minor must be released because he was held in custody for 42 hours by the Chicago Police Department and was not brought before a judicial officer within 24 hours.”

Prosecutors asked Judge Linda Pauel to put the teen on electronic monitoring if he was going to be released, but she denied the request.

“Over our objections, the minor was released to the custody of a parent,” Foxx’s office said.

Felony attempted first-degree murder and felony aggravated battery charges remain in place against the teen, whose next court date is Monday, Foxx’s spokesperson said.

When the criminal justice system fails to hold criminals responsible for their crimes, ultimately street justice begins to take over. And the unofficial blog of a Chicago cops, Second City Cop, writes:

Anyone want to place odds on if the shooter makes it through the weekend alive?

More gun laws would have stopped this, right?

“More gun laws would have stopped this…” Incredibly, many in our current crop of state legislators would probably agree. After all, more government solves any problem, right?

Meanwhile, this would-be killer is now back out on the streets. Unfortunately for him, the streets might not be so friendly to him.

Hopefully no innocents will find themselves serving as the backstop for bullets meant for the 14-year-old who, if it weren’t for these scurrilous accusations, would be spending his spare time studying and preparing for the SAT.

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87 COMMENTS

  1. What are the odds a kid this messed up, this early, would ever become a productive member of society?

    This may seem harsh but if someone takes him out, it’s a bill the taxpayers won’t have to pay for the rest of his life.

    • ‘What are the odds a kid this messed up, this early, would ever become a productive member of society?’

      I really don’t mean this in a preachy way, but if he accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his lord and savior while in prison the odds are pretty good. Otherwise just about zero. You don’t even have to be a Christian to notice how whenever someone does turn his felonious life around he’s almost always quick to credit Jesus.

      • Not taken as preachy; put another way, if he recognizes that other people matter and there are things other than himself that are important … and that there’s a better way to live than what he was doing.

        I was really just thinking of the average recidivism rate, and that if he’s like this now, he probably doesn’t have a support network that can help him straighten out when he gets out.

        Given that, the “return on investment” on locking someone up is pretty poor.

        • Christianity can definitely provide a support group. Perhaps that has something to do with it. And the fact that we are a majority Christian nation. But it seems when someone accepts Mohammad in prison it usually ends up with them in a suicide vest or holding an AK47 while disregarding the 4 rules of gun safety. And the Buddhists just end up smoking weed and selling flowers on the freeway exits. When people truly hit rock bottom, be it drugs, alcoholism or prison, etc. it seems that it’s Christianity that pulls them up out of that. Just an observation from a more or less non-practicing Christian.

      • “I really don’t mean this in a preachy way, but if he accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his lord and savior while in prison the odds are pretty good.”

        Down here in central Florida is a hell-fire and damnation belt-buckle of the ‘Bible Belt’. Thick with Baptist and Pentecostal churches.

        Since I moved down here 35 years ago, I’ve noticed something…

        Strange.

        Now, maybe it’s me, but I have noticed that the people who have professed their religion to me the loudest (I am a Christian!) have been the ones who were most dishonest with me in personal and business dealings. To the point where I now consider it a *warning* as to what’s coming.

        It’s become so consistent it’s eerie…

        • Well I’m not exactly what you’d call a model Christian myself, so I won’t throw any stones. But there definitely is a ‘self righteous hypocrite’ sect in Christianity. Probably has a ways to go to match the Democratic Party in that though.

      • “Don’t mean this as preachy”

        Immediately leads with “if they accept the Lord Jesus Christ…”

        wow.

        • If you read my comments you’d realize that I’m not an evangelical Christian and therefore you’d realize that I was just adopting the language in making a simple observation rather than attempting to proselytize. Methinks your bigotry clouds your judgement.

  2. When the would be gang banger reaches 18 yrs old the court will expunge his record anyway,,, so the punks do their killing while their not considered a adult,,, I hope the street takes care of him right away & the fake news splashes it all over the airwaves & papers,,, maybe the next jerk that has a bone to pick will think about it …but I doubt it ,,, gehtto mentality don’t ya know…

  3. Judge Linda Pauel should be required to babysit this “boy”, and chaperone him while he’s out roaming free until he shows up in court on Monday.

      • There would be no such thing as judges… like it should be. Seriously, look at the history behind them. Complete madness and hypocrisy in our justice system. We would have a better chance if the decision was automated and weighed all the positives and negatives.

  4. Chicago is a glimpse of the utopian left’s vision for all of us for our future.
    Unpunished hate crime hoaxes perpetrated by black mini-celebrities, and unpunished violence perpetrated by street youths.

  5. All together now! No fear, no respect, no deterrent=? But it’s that damn second ammendment that’s the problem.

    • No longer any fear of the police, laws or God in Chicago and the rest of the USA is not far behind.

      • well, you should not fear any of those. Religion, if that is your thing, is whatever you want it to be.

        Fear of police? Sounds nazi.
        Fear of the law? Sounds like a dictatorship.

        Maybe you are cool with blindy pledging your allegiance to governments control, but some of us know that rebellion is what built this country. With all due respect, live within your means and question everything.

  6. this judge needs to be told that if her friend shoots anybody,black-white-or green she takes the fall with him..

  7. The only surprising thing about the whole incident is that the CPD was not accused of being racist for arresting a black teenager. Hey there State’s Attorney Kim Foxx hope you are proud to have set the standard. Don’t complain when the judges follow your example of setting the guilty free.

  8. Apparently, there is a gang war in progress in the area. If the shooter and his targets are gangbangers, I have no sympathy for any of them. I would feel differently if the targets were innocent people with no gang ties.

  9. Good for law abiding society? Probably not. I say probably because he hasn’t been convicted yet.
    If your rights were violated by cops would you want the judge to hold back on what they or prosecutors wanted for you?
    Maybe some accountability is in order for Chicago cops not following the law in regards to yet another blood thirsty criminal. Or maybe when they slow walk retrieving your firearms after an arbitrary red flag confiscation you’ll give em a smile and a high five.

    Sell Chicago to Canada for five bucks then we don’t have to care anymore.

    • I agree on the acountabilty of the cops. Maybe the cops messed up (procedural oversight, poor understanding of the law), maybe they did it on purpose (they know what will happen to this teen back on the streets)? All around, it’s a screwed up situation.

      • Agreed on messed up all around. If he is responsible for the crime and doesn’t make it to court or age 15 it’s not going to be a loss for society. Maybe lower some future prison and court costs. He’s a child but I’m not optimistic on his turning his life around.

    • How about Censure the prosecutor/police as guilty and set a fair bail whatever that may be. You don’t need to ignore one crime because of another.

      • Yeah no bail for such a serious crime is weird despite the police screw up. But maybe with all the homicides just shooting one guy up is the Chicago equivalent of Atlanta and Dallas shoplifting.

  10. Well TTAG gang even the Tiny Dancer© Rahm Emmanuel is pissed about THIS one. Just saw him complaining on the newz…now do you get why I’m loathe to travel to the city for any reason?!? Punkazz kid’s armed and dangerous..

    • Cool that Rahm is upset about the situation he’s nurtured. He’s probably more upset the police couldn’t label it a suicide attempt when they cook those stats.

    • C.S. says:
      May 11, 2019 at 17:17
      What are the odds this kid will get a FOID card, carry permit, or join the NRA?

      All the kid needs is 10 bucks and NRA will say welcome.

  11. I dunno about this.

    The stories don’t really cover the evidence against the kid so it’s pretty hard to comment on the judge’s actions here. If the case is weak-as-fuck I don’t really want the kid being held, and thereby wasting resources that would be better spent on holding someone who has a much higher likelihood of being convicted. That’s the kind of thing judges sometimes consider when setting the conditions of release.

    There’s also that pesky innocent until proven guilty thing.

    Technicalities suck when the let someone else go, they’re awesome when they let you or your friends/family go. So… yeah six of one half a dozen of the other. If homie did the crime then he’ll probably get whacked in retribution anyway. This might be an example of a small part of what’s wrong with Chicago but even if this is wrong and we someone managed to right it that’s patching a pinhole leak in a ship with a gaping hole in her side.

    • I understand what you’re saying.
      However, with a crime as heinous and violent as this one is, to let the alleged perp out because he was held for more than 24 hours is “Not A Good Thing®.” It’s certainly not doing any favors for the accused, what with revenge being such a revered tactic as it is.
      I’ve seen studies that show that violent criminals kept in maximum security prisons live much longer than they would if left to roam the streets, and not because of the better health care they receive inside.

      • That’s the thing. We presuppose that he did the crime and that it was heinous but we really can’t say either thing is true with great confidence.

        If he took out gang banger scumbags in retaliation for something Chicago’s “justice” system let those guys slide on, well, is that really so “heinous” or is it setting things right? People here on TTAG have said they’d consider doing similar things in such a circumstance and the crowd generally nods in agreement on that.

        I mean ERPO’s are obviously problematic and a lot of people here consider it acceptable to shoot officers who might try to enforce an ERPO. Is this really that much different? No, at it’s core it is not. In both cases it’s taking the law into your own hands in a self-destructive way. One we like, or at least excuse, the other we don’t. That’s pretty inconsistent.

        I’m not saying what the judge did here is right. I’m saying we don’t know the full details of what happened to create that decision and until we have those facts we should keep a wary eye on a suspicious situation but not rush to final judgement like a bunch of CNN contributors.

        • We can argue the decision of the judge to release the child; but the real wrong here is that there is no way to keep tabs on him until his court date.

        • “If he took out gang banger scumbags in retaliation for something Chicago’s “justice” system let those guys slide on, well, is that really so “heinous” or is it setting things right? People here on TTAG have said they’d consider doing similar things in such a circumstance and the crowd generally nods in agreement on that. ”

          Vigilante justice looks great in movies, but it sucks in real life. When there is no limit set on just who the vigilante targets (and, by definition, there isn’t), there’s also no limit to just what “injustice” is being set right.
          And using the keyboard commandos here to justify vigilante justice…
          I’m at a loss for words.

  12. Maybe this judge had the forethought to put him back out on the street, knowing street justice would have him pushing up daisies shortly….

    NAH, probably not.

    • And when he ends up dead in the street, he’ll go into the books as one more “child victim of gun violence”.

      • More likely if he ends up wandering around out in the streets and he gets smoked, his “moms” will sue the city and judge for releasing him without a supervision stipulation. And the city will preemptively settle for $10 million.

  13. Is anyone truly surprised?
    This is social justice at its finest.
    “Punishing the police”?
    “Released into the custody of a parent”? Yep, that parent has been doing a superb job so far.
    I noticed that no one stopped to ask where this fellow got his firearm. I thought handguns were illegal in Chicago. I know for a fact that Federal law requires someone to be at least 21 years of age in order to purchase a handgun legally.

    Let’s be honest. This is about the Big Dogs making money from drugs, gambling, prostitution and illegal firearms trafficking.

    Just remember, the next time some politician says, ‘It’s for the children”, how much they really care.
    Pathetic…

  14. The really interesting thing is that Chicago is not the most violently messed up city we have.
    They seem to be trying to fix that, though.

  15. “Chicagoland has become the modern Wild West.”

    Disagree, the “Wild West” had a very well developed sense of crime and punishment, even with law-enforcement officials few and far between.

  16. The kid should go to prison and so should the cops. A cop violating Constitutional Rights is more dangerous to society than 100 14 year old killers. Any cop who misbehaves should die in prison.

  17. And these dumb asses wonder why Chicago has a “gun” problem. A stupid SOB of a judge. Feds need to investigate him!!! Rahm should call for him to be fired.

  18. Chicago is actually somewhat safe for pure whiitees. Of the nearly 160 murders so far this year, maybe 3 or 4 are non-Hispanic, non-Asian whites. Most of the victims are blacks, many are Hispanic and a sprinkling are Asians.
    The Chicago Sun Times has a list of them all.

      • You beat me to it!

        https://heyjackass.com/home/

        The shot in the junk o meter is even funnier.

        The most informative metric is on clearance/arrest rates. When nine out of ten homicides are never solved, it is inevitable that murder rates will soar. It appears that the police are being punished for actually identifying the killer and taking the time to document their case against the little bastard before presenting it to a judge.

        May be if this thug goes out and commits more murders, the people of Chicago will lynch the judge?

  19. Well the black women really know how to run things in Chicago. They got it under control. Kinda like Baltimore.

  20. . This that and the other but it’s sad that America is losing its youths, I’m blaming a lot of it on that fcking Meth, I hate that sht. I don’t hate much but I sure do hate that.

  21. That’s a clear picture of the perp. He’ll skip court, another gangster will kill him, parents sue city – nobody wins for the millionth time. If he lives, cycle repeats.

  22. Just remember it’s white NRA members’ fault that black people in Democratically run cities keep killing each other.

  23. it’s Chicago. who gives a fuck.. This is what they voted for, this is what they accept, this is what they get. They can catch and release all day long and nobody will do anything, so let them. Let it deteriorate. eventually it will collapse and good riddance

  24. As a juvenile, what’s the worse punishment he can receive?
    Over time, Chicago, Cook County and Illinois have closed prisons. The resulting overcrowding has lead to court ordered reduction of sentences and early release. Plea bargains frequently result in gun charges disappearing. Gun charges are also being dismissed as judges seek to find fault with the police. Last, plea bargains are keeping the justice system moving. Were each case brought to trial, and each gun charge prosecuted, the court system will crash.
    Odds are this killer will have charges dropped, be found guilty of a misdemeanor, and get probation.

  25. If we are lucky enough for Chicago to fall into the lake and take all of the idiots. I also doubt the kid won’t make it to his 18th birthday. How many people will he kill before then. The judges and prosecutors are out of touch with everything.

  26. He is a good little boy – just like Travon Martin.

    We need to get several dozen ‘Charles Bronson’s’ and fulfill this idiot’s Death wish.

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