Two men have been charged in the shooting death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton in a case of mistaken identity in which one of those charged was trying to retaliate for his being shot last year, authorities said.
Charged were Michael Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20. The two face charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated battery with a firearm in the attack that also left two other teens wounded. Ward, of the 3900 block of South Lake Park Avenue, who confessed, was believed to be the shooter, police said.
Williams, of the 300 block of West 59th Street, had been shot in July, but refused to sign a complaint against those police suspected in that attack. Williams and Ward targeted the group Hadiya was with because they believed, mistakenly, they were members of the gang responsible for that shooting, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said in a news conference at Area Central police headquarters this evening.
With news of the charges, Hadiya's father Nathaniel Pendleton said this is the first time since the shooting that he's had a "legitimate" smile on his face.
"I'm ecstatic that they found the two guys," he told the Tribune during a brief telephone interview Monday night from a Washington, D.C. restaurant, where he was with his wife, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, and other relatives. "(I'm) thanking God that these two guys are off the streets, so that this doesn't happen to another innocent person."
Pendleton and his family were in the nation's capital to be guests of President Barack Obama while he delivers the State Of The Union address Tuesday night.
Still, Pendleton acknowledged that true closure will come if the men are convicted of the crimes. But the charges, he said, are a good start.
"Right now, I can say to you that the healing can start," he said.
Chicago police picked up the two men, 18 and 20, over the weekend, hours after first lady Michelle Obama attended the funeral for the teenager whose death has become a symbol of escalating violence in Chicago.
The men were pulled over near 67th Street and South Chicago Avenue late Saturday night or early Sunday morning after detectives canvassed the area of the park where she was fatally shot Jan. 29 and tracked down witnesses, the sources said.
Hadiya was shot in Vivian Gordon Harsh Park, about a mile north of President Barack Obama's Kenwood neighborhood home on the South Side. Her slaying took place a little more than a week after the honor student performed with the King College Prep band in Washington during inauguration festivities. Two other teens were wounded.
The shooting in the 4400 block of South Oakenwald Avenue happened after classes were dismissed for the day during finals week at King. Hadiya, a sophomore at King, was at the park with a group of teens, primarily other students from the school, when a male gunman climbed over a fence, ran to the group and started firing, police have said. The shooter escaped in what has been described as a white Nissan vehicle, possibly driven by a getaway driver.
One of the sources said at least one of the men brought into custody was riding in a Nissan Sentra, one of the two vehicles police pulled over when bringing the pair into custody. The source didn't know that Nissan's color.
After police News Affairs initially--and mistakenly--said that her companions included gang members, Police have said the teens in Hadiya's group who had gathered in the park were not involved in gangs. But police have been looking into whether the gunman may have mistaken them for rival gang members.
While police and neighbors have generally described Harsh Park and its immediate surroundings as safe, there has been an internal gang conflict brewing in the area between factions of the Gangster Disciples, police said. The two men who are charged are alleged members of the Gangster Disciples, sources said.
Ward pleaded guilty early last year in a 2011 aggravated unlawful use of a weapon case, and was given two years probation, according to court records. After an arrest on criminal trespass to a vehicle last summer, he was held without bond for a few weeks, but was released after a Sept. 9, 2012, hearing.
Williams was arrested on a misdemeanor retail theft charge in October 2011, but the charge was dismissed.
In addition to Hadiya's homicide, there have been at least three other shootings within blocks of Harsh Park so far this year, according to police records.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel personally called Hadiya's parents, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton and Nathaniel Pendleton, to inform them of the development, according to a source. Nathaniel Pendleton told the Tribune on Sunday night that he didn't want to say too much about the men being questioned because charges have not been filed.
“Right now, we're just happy that Chicago police have some leads and things are moving,” he said.
Shatira Wilks, a cousin of Hadiya's and a family spokesperson, said the development is a “good response” and better news than the family had Saturday.
Arrests and charges “will bring a small level of closure to the family, although (the shooter) still will be allowed to eat, drink, mingle,” Wilks said. “The thing about that is, Hadiya is no longer (able) to do so.”
On how Hadiya's family is doing, Wilks said, “Everyone keeps asking that. I don't know if you'll ever get an answer that we're feeling good or we're feeling fine.”
Hadiya's godmother, LaKeisha Stewart, said questioning the men is a good start, but she's more eager to find out when or if charges are filed.
“Until this person is off the streets for good, that an example is made to … other people like him -- that's when I'll breathe a sigh of relief,” Stewart said. “For me, when the person is in court and a judge says they are responsible for her murder … to me, that's when this will make a difference.”
Hadiya's death occurred during the deadliest January for Chicago since 2002. It also came on the heels of a homicide total last year that was the highest since 2008, and the second highest since 2003.
The playground where Hadiya was shot was the setting for an amateur rap video posted to YouTube. The video, which also highlights the intersection at South Oakenwald and East 44th Place, uses the moniker of a local gang in an opening credit and features a rapper shown leaving the Cook County Jail, then threatening to shoot down his foes.
The video ends at a house party with a smiling teenage girl flashing gang signs at the camera.
The first lady's attendance at Hadiya's funeral placed Chicago even further into the spotlight of a national debate over gun violence that has polarized Congress and led the president to take his gun-control initiatives on the road to garner more public support.
Neither the first lady nor elected officials gave remarks during the funeral. Only the friends and relatives who knew Hadiya best were allowed to speak.
In the days following Hadiya's death, clergy and community leaders raised $40,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the teen's killer or killers. McCarthy has said that detectives have received numerous tips to follow up on for the homicide investigation.
Tribune reporter Carlos Sadovi contributed to this story.
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