Cold-Blooded Murder in Chicago: Outrage over Gang-Related Beating Death of Teen Honor Student Derrion Albert (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on September 28, 2009
Shocking, disturbing, and horrific. What is happening to make these children into such violent monsters, what makes them value life so little?
Our heartfelt prayers go to the family and friends of young Derrion Albert, whose promising life was cut short by these lawless thugs.
I just don’t have the stomach for this today… I can’t bring myself to watch this first video, so it’s your call if you choose to watch it.
Warning: the following video is graphic and extremely violent.
Video of the Beating Death of Derrion Albert
LA Times: Murder charges in Chicago teen’s beating death:
Four teenagers are charged with first-degree murder in the death of Derrion Albert, 16, an honor roll student who was walking to a bus stop when he got caught up in a street fight.
Chicago – Cellphone footage of a group of teens viciously kicking and striking a 16-year-old honors student with splintered railroad ties led to murder charges against four Chicago youths on Monday.
The graphic video of the Thursday afternoon melee emerged on local news stations over the weekend, showing the fatal beating of Derrion Albert, a sophomore honor roll student at Christian Fenger Academy High School.
Prosecutors charged four teenagers with fatally beating Albert, who was walking to a bus stop when he got caught up in the mob street fighting, authorities said.
3 Charged in Beating Death of Chicago Student | September 2009
From Associated Press:
CHICAGO (Sept. 28) – Three teenagers were charged Monday in the beating death of a 16-year-old Chicago honor roll student on his way home from school, a melee captured on a cell phone video that shows a group striking him with boards and kicking him as he lay on a sidewalk.
The death of Derrion Albert, a sophomore at Christian Fenger Academy High School, on Thursday has reignited community outrage over chronic violence involving city students and is putting pressure on school and police officials to address gang problems that often are at the root of such violence. More than 30 students were killed in 2008, according to district figures, and the city could exceed that toll in 2009.
But some community members said the solution lies with parents.
“It is our problem. We have to take control of our children,” said Dawn Allen, who attended a vigil at the school Monday, where a group of residents tried to force their way into the school before being turned back by police.
Albert was attacked around 3 p.m. Thursday in front of Agape Community Center in the south Chicago neighborhood of Roseland, where he was walking to a bus stop, authorities said.
The violence stemmed from a shooting early Thursday morning involving two groups of students, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the Cook County prosecutor’s office. When school ended, members of the two groups began fighting.
The attack, captured in part on a bystander’s cell phone video, shows Albert being struck on the head by one of several young men wielding wooden planks. After he falls to the ground and appears to try to get up, he is struck again and then kicked.
Prosecutors charged Silvonus Shannon, 19, Eugene Riley, 18, and Eric Carson, 16, with first-degree murder, and they were ordered held without bond on Monday, said Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County prosecutor’s office.
Simonton said Albert was a bystander and not part of either group. She said Albert was knocked unconscious when Carson struck him in the head with a board and the second person punched him in the face. Albert regained consciousness and was trying to get up when he was attacked a second time by five people and was struck in the head with a board by Riley and stomped in the head by Shannon, Simonton said.
Desiyan Bacon, Riley’s aunt, attended Monday’s vigil at the school and said her nephew didn’t have anything to do with the beating and was a friend of the victim.
“They need to stop the crime, but when they do it, they need to get the right person,” Bacon said.
Albert’s grandfather, Joseph Walker, told the Chicago Tribune that he could not bear to watch the recording. “The graphics are too strong for me,” he said. “God bless whoever took that video. It did and said it all.”
The following homemade commentary video, produced and uploaded to YouTube by tahirjahi, touched me deeply for its honesty and raw emotion.
Re: Raw Video of Derrion Albert 16 teen year old beaten to death in Chicago Sep 27 2009
From Michelle Malkin:
The Chicago public school system has about 407,000 students in 666 schools. It is the nation’s third-largest school district and has been plagued by violence in recent years. During the 2007-2008 school year, at least 20 students were killed, including 18 by gunfire. The year before, more than 30 students were killed, again most by gun violence.
Additional reading:
The Mo’ Kelly Report: Put the Derrion Albert Murderers Away for Good
Founding Bloggers: Why Are Chicago’s Streets So Bloody?
Music Blips: More Unbelievable Chicago Violence: Derrion Albert killed by teen mob (graphic video included)
Greenwich Diva: Derrion Albert killed during a melee in Chicago’s South Side
What About Our Daughters: “This is NOT NORMAL” – The Death of Derrion Albert
The Atlantic: Mourning in Chicago
About the author
Admin…
MM has a comment from “Average Joe”, veteran Army, with an interesting concept on the gang mentality and the fix for it.
I agree with him, I saw it happen.
Take a look, and see what you think.
His comment is on the same subject as your posting.
Thanks for the heads up, AFVET – I’ll give it a look this morning.