Five teens were charged with first-degree murder after a 14-year-old boy was fatally shot by a licensed gun owner when the teens tried stealing the man’s car from his home near Antioch, and then led police on a high-speed chase into Chicago.
18-year-old Diamond C. Davis and two 17-year-old boys, all who live in the 5700 block of South Bishop Street in Chicago, along with a 16-year-old boy, of the 7800 block of South Oglesby Avenue in Chicago, and a 17-year-old boy, of the 5000 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, were all charged as adults with first-degree murder.
“The teens were charged due to them being in commission of a forcible felony, when the 14-year-old victim was shot and subsequently died as a result of being shot during the commission of a burglary,” the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday evening.
All five teens appeared in court for an initial hearing late Tuesday afternoon and a judge ordered them to be held on a $1 million bond each. They are scheduled to appear in court again on September 5.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said they responded at 1:15 a.m. Tuesday to the 17600 block of West Edwards Road in unincorporated Antioch for an attempted vehicle theft at a residence.
The 75-year-old homeowner told sheriff’s deputies he shot at the suspects trying to steal his car before they fled the scene, according to Lake County Sheriff Spokesman Sgt. Christopher Covelli.
Covelli said at a press conference Tuesday morning that the homeowner saw a vehicle on his driveway and went outside.
He realized the group of people were trying to steal his vehicle and then two males, one of whom was holding something in his hand, approached him quickly while he was still on his porch, Covelli said.
The homeowner discharged his small caliber revolver, striking the boy in the head, Covelli said. A knife was later recovered at the scene.
After the suspects fled, Gurnee police were investigating a vehicle crash at Grand Avenue and Hunt Club Road around 1:35 a.m when a stolen 2015 Lexus SUV approached the scene with the six teens inside it.
The occupants in the vehicle told police officers that one of the people in the car, a 14-year-old Chicago boy, needed medical attention for a gunshot wound, Covelli said. One of the occupants in the car helped remove the injured boy from the vehicle.
Police arrested the 17-year-old boy who got out of the car and the other four fled the scene in the vehicle. Paramedics responded and transported the boy who had been shot to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where he was pronounced dead.
The Gurnee Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office began pursuing the suspect vehicle, at which point speeds reached over 100 mph, Covelli said.
The Illinois State Police and Chicago Police Department joined the pursuit and it ended in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood near Halstead Street and Randolph Street.
The 16-year-old boy, 17-year-old boy and 18-year-old woman were taken into custody around 2 a.m. after running from the car, according to Illinois State Police. Lake County Sheriff Canine Dax found the fourth suspect, the 17-year-old boy, hiding inside a dumpster.