Chicago’s mainstream media seemed appalled that a mother would tell her teenage son to get her carry gun out of her car as she was being accosted in a working class neighborhood carry-out restaurant. In fact, the story went national with USA Today headlining the story, “A woman told her teen son to shoot man at a hot dog stand, police say. Both are charged with murder.”
A woman and her 14-year-old son have been criminally charged after authorities say she instructed the teenager to shoot a man at a Chicago hot dog stand.
Carlisha Hood, 35, and her son were arrested in the city Wednesday in connection to the June 18 late-night killing of 32-year-old Jeremy A. Brown, Chicago police said.
Both Hood and her son are facing first-degree murder charges, police told USA TODAY Monday. The teen’s mother is also charged with one felony count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor…
Other outlets had the similar headlines. Like Fox8News: Mother instructed 14-year-old son to shoot, kill man at hot dog stand, court docs allege.
Police arrested the mom and her son before the video of the incident became public.
HQ added. pic.twitter.com/CmPvhIQZfs
— Emjay Phan (@heyFATabbot) June 24, 2023
If that had been my mother under attack, he wouldn’t have landed the second blow before I ended it with a promiscuous application of ballistic dissuasion. If that helped him cross the rainbow bridge, so be it.
I saw the video late yesterday and thought the incident was ripe for an acquittal by a jury. There was clearly a disparity of force between the tough guy who didn’t mind beating a woman. Granted the video doesn’t show the context of the dispute, but she’s not doing anything except talking in the clip.
On Monday Cook County prosecutors showed uncharacteristic good sense and dropped the charges. From CWB Chicago . . .
Cook County prosecutors have dropped all charges against a Chicago woman and her 14-year-old son, who were accused of first-degree murder last week following an altercation inside a fast-food restaurant.
“Based upon our continued review and in light of emerging evidence, today the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) has moved to dismiss the charges against Carlisha Hood and her 14-year-old son,” the state’s attorney’s office said in a written statement. “Based upon the facts, evidence, and the law we are unable to meet our burden of proof in the prosecution of these cases.”
The decision came after cellphone video emerged over the weekend, providing a fuller picture of what happened late last Sunday night at Maxwell Street Express, 11656 South Halsted. CWBChicago reported on the new video yesterday.
In the newly-surfaced video, 32-year-old Jeremy Brown is seen yelling, waving his arms, and repeatedly threatening to knock Hood unconscious as she stood at the restaurant’s order window.
No doubt USA Today will be scrambling to revise their story and their narrative. And so it goes.