A 14-year-old girl has been charged with murder for shooting another teen girl in Chicago in a confrontation that allegedly began with a dispute over a boy on Facebook.
The unnamed suspect was charged as a juvenile in the fatal shooting of Endia Martin, NBC Chicago reports. Police say two others, including the suspect’s 24-year-old uncle, are being held in connection with the killing.
Martin, 14, was walking home from Tilden Career Academy Monday to her home on Chicago’s South Side when an argument broke out with a group of teens on the sidewalk. She was shot in the back at around 4:30 p.m. and taken to hospital, where she died, according to police. Another girl was hospitalized after getting shot in the arm but is expected to recover.
Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy told reporters Tuesday that the incident “was a fistfight that turned to a murder with the introduction of a firearm.”
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Martin’s stepfather Kent Kennedy said the argument began as a Facebook feud, according to the Chicago Tribune, and says the family wants justice for what happened. “This is not going to go away. . .We are not going to rest until [the people responsible] are prosecuted to the fullest.” Kennedy also expressed remorse for what he called “senseless” violence in Chicago. “Kids are dying so young nowadays…No place in Chicago is safe for teenagers.”
Over 50 children aged 16 or younger have been shot in Chicago so far this year, according to the Tribune.
