4 'main offenders' in Fenger beating now charged, Weis says
With the arrest of a 14-year-old, Chicago Police believe they have now charged the four “main offenders who struck the critical blows” that killed Fenger High School student Derrion Albert, but they’re still looking for three others.
Police Superintendent Jody Weis said the 14-year-old charged with two counts of first degree murder struck Derrion in the face with his fist, “causing him to fall.” The juvenile was placed at the scene of the fight by several eyewitnesses, who chose to come forward only after 18-year-old Eugene Bailey was charged and released.
Unlike two of the other offenders who have given videotaped confessions, the 14-year-old gave no statement to police.
“It wasn’t until Bailey was charged that this community began reaching out to police to assist in the investigation. Until that moment, there was nothing but silence,” Weis told a City Hall news conference.
“There were people out there who knew who the right person was and, when they recognized that the wrong person had been charged…there was a sense of urgency for people to come forward and say, ‘This is not one of the killers.’…I thank the community for coming forward. I do wish they would have come forward sooner.”
Police believe that the three offenders still on the loose “kicked or punched” 16-year-old Derrion and that kids on the scene of the brawl know who they are.
In addition to what Mayor Daley likes to call the “code of silence” among the community at large, Weis acknowledged that there is a strong sense among young people everywhere not to “snitch” on one another.
It’s a sensitive subject the superintendent broaches “every time I get a chance” to talk to young people, he said.
“I say, ‘Listen, I know there’s a strong force out there that’s keeping you from coming forward. But, please understand: Today’s victims will be tomorrow’s offenders,’ ” Weis said.
Noting that 90 percent of all offenders and 80 percent of all victims have criminal records, he said, “It’s a circle of violence. If you really care about someone who you know may be involved in a crime, say something. Worse case scenario, they might go to jail. But you may keep them alive. And you may protect them from ruining their life if they are offenders trying to…extract some street justice.”
The Sept. 24 beating death of Derrion Albert was captured on a horrific videotape replayed around the world. It captured the attention of President Obama.
The president dispatched Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Chicago’s former schools CEO, to Chicago to open what they called a “national dialogue” on juvenile crime.
Police have stressed that Derrion Albert’s death outside Agape Community Center, 342 W. 111th St., was not gang-related. He was killed during a brawl between students from Altgeld Gardens and a neighborhood closer to Fenger known as the “Ville.”