No bail for Chicago gang members in Hadiya Pendleton's death

CHICAGO (AP) - Two men charged in the death of a 15-year-old Chicago honor student were ordered held without bail Tuesday at a hearing where prosecutors contended the shooting happened while they were hunting for members of a rival gang...

Adam Howard

Feb 12, 2013

CHICAGO (AP) — Two men charged in the death of a 15-year-old Chicago honor student were ordered held without bail Tuesday at a hearing where prosecutors contended the shooting happened while they were hunting for members of a rival gang.

Hadiya Pendleton died after being shot in a park about a mile from the Chicago home of President Barack Obama on Jan. 29, just days after she performed during Obama’s inauguration festivities in Washington. Her death was among dozens of homicides in Chicago last month, though her background and ties to Obama thrust her death into the national headlines.

Cook County Judge Israel Desierto ordered Michael Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20, held without bail after prosecutors told the judge in chilling detail what happened the day Pendleton died.

Prosecutors said Ward and Williams were in a vehicle circling the park when they spotted Pendleton’s group and thought they were rival gang members. Williams handed Ward a gun, and Ward snuck up on the group and opened fire, shooting at least six times, prosecutors said.

“She was able to make it outside of the park and then collapsed on the street,” Assistant Cook County state’s attorney Jennifer Sexton said. Pendleton died later that day. Police have not recovered the firearm.

Sexton said prosecutors have cellphone records placing Williams near the park on the day of the shooting.

“Ward admitted he snuck up on the group and they didn’t see him coming,” Sexton said.

Police say Ward and Williams belong to the SUWU gang, and the shooting stemmed from a long war between it and the 4-6 Terror gang. Ward told police the gangs had been shooting at each other since 2010, prosecutors said, and Ward was still upset the rival gang killed one of his friends.

Williams’ attorney, Matthew McQuaid, denied that Williams is a gang member. He said his client has no record and works at a Chicago airport.

Ward and Williams were charged Monday with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. Both were taken into custody late Saturday while on their way to a strip club — and just hours after first lady Michelle Obama and other dignitaries attended Pendleton’s funeral.

Ward’s attorney, Jeff Granich, said Ward was denied his right to see a lawyer even though he requested one for 48 hours.

Not only did the first lady attend the teen’s funeral, but the girl’s parents were set to sit with Michelle Obama during the president’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Obama is scheduled to return to Chicago three days later to discuss gun violence.

Pendleton, a popular high school majorette, was with a group of friends who took cover during a rainstorm under a canopy in a park about a mile from the Obama home on the city’s South Side. Pendleton was struck in the back and died later that day. Two others were injured. Police said neither Pendleton nor her friends were affiliated with gangs.