Boy arrested for murder after police shoot and kill his friend.

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder after a Chicago police officer fatally shot his 15-year-old friend Wednesday on the South Side

This is really messed up. The two lads commit a robbery and when confronted by police one of them pulls a gun and is shot. Now his friend who never pulled a gun has been arrested for murder.

Brandon Ross and his friend Tatioun Williams allegedly robbed a man at gunpoint in the 7000 block of South Cregier Avenue Wednesday evening, and were confronted by police officers a short time later, the Chicago Tribune reports. When the officers told the teens to stop, Williams, who was holding the gun, allegedly turned in the officer's direction, Fox Chicago reports. Fearing for her life, the officer shot the 15-year-old, killing him.

The boys were no angels and had commited an armed robbery but I dont understand how you can be arrested for murder when the police pulled the trigger.

Under state law, police can charge someone with murder when an accomplice is killed during the commission of a crime. Even though Ross didn't pull the trigger, he was charged as an adult with murder and armed robbery. He was ordered held on $900,000 bail Friday.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

What happened was wrong and the lad should be held to account for his actions. But he did not pull the trigger. This in my eyes is a step to far...


kx

reply to post by purplemer


It is a travesty of justice but in their minds the young man would be alive were it not for their combined actions and so their decision to commit the crime was what got the one guy shot and so the survivor is responsible for the murder or death. It is an unwarranted and preposterous stretch of the circumstances and a convenient way to absolve oneself of guilt for shooting a child. By this reasoning anyone shot by police during a robbery could also be changed with shooting themselves.

The young man arrested was involved in an on going felony, Aggrevated Robbery.

The common law, and most state law statutes have what is called a Felony Murder Section.

To generalize the law, a person can be charged with Murder, if during the commission of, or in the immediate flight from a inherently dangerous felony ANYONE gets killed by Any other party.

It links the murder to the felony, making it like strict liability.

In a homicide someone is responsible. The way the law looks at it is BUT FOR the felons activities, the homicide would not have occured.

The DETERRENCE factor is that if you are a party to a dangerous felony, as a principle (one doing act), as a issue before the fact (master mind but not actual participant), or issue after the fact (hide them out, give them aid etc.) you are also liable for the homicide of anyone, that is commited by anybody during the ongoing felony.

So if one thinks (I am only the look out, so if something happens I am not guilty of anything) they are wrong. They are just as guilty of the crime as the ones holding the gun.

Dont be a criminal and stuff like this wouldnt happen.

Yes?

Bad seed anyway, too bad this idiot is gonna cost the tax payers...

Originally posted by pplrnuts
Dont be a criminal and stuff like this wouldnt happen.

Yes?

Okay....

But you do realize that the US is a country in collapse and weird laws and charges are all a part of that right?

But really though the 16yo boy had no way of knowing or stopping the other boy from turning towards the police. I mean how fast did it happen? Probably in the blink of an eye...he probably didn't even have the time to say drop it. This is the sad state of justice in this twisted country we live in where police are above the law. So now because this kid made a stupid mistake when he was really too young to realize the implications that would affect the rest of his life they heap a bit more on him and more than likely he will spend it in prison for 25-life. I mean really how many people that live in that state even know of this law?

Formerly known as "The Hand of One is the Hand of All" this has been a part of the criminal code ever since there has been a criminal code.

This law is not new.

Everyone knows that if you drive the vehicle for the bank robbers, you will be charged with bank robbery as well.

The "kid" made the choice to Rob that innocent citizen and during the robbery someone died. He gets charged with Murder.



Semper

reply to post by Exuberant1


This isn't a "weird law" or even a new law. I believe, in the state of Michigan there was a case tried on these grounds back in the 60's.

reply to post by RickyD


Oh should the cops have waited a few minutes for the other kid to try to talk his friend in to putting the gun down? I know if I was a cop and someone pointed a gun at me I'd wait for him to shoot first before I shot back.

reply to post by Exuberant1


??????

Click here for more information.

They should charge the entire neighborhood it took place in; without that space there would never have been a crime!

Chicago? Yeah, go ahead and charge the entire lot of them, they are already Guilty by Association!

reply to post by purplemer


I think that it is a shame that something like this is allowed in the justice system but it's Chicago. The most corrupt city outside of DC. I avoid that town at all costs, and I do a lot of traveling. The South side is a freaking war zone.

I see a few comments that are attempting to explain this, and prove it has happened before. Irrelevant.

The fact that this is not new, does not make it any less screwed up. It would ALMOST make sense, if the the kid who is still alive, was the armed one, and the dead kid was unarmed.

Is this kid guilty? Of course.
Is he guilty of murder and should be tried as an adult? No.

He robbed a man. His life is over, just as his dead friend's life is.
For robbery.

Originally posted by newcovenant
reply to post by purplemer

 

It is a travesty of justice but in their minds the young man would be alive were it not for their combined actions and so their decision to commit the crime was what got the one guy shot and so the survivor is responsible for the murder or death. It is an unwarranted and preposterous stretch of the circumstances and a convenient way to absolve oneself of guilt for shooting a child. By this reasoning anyone shot by police during a robbery could also be changed with shooting themselves.

Child? That stopped when the weapon entered the picture.

A baby rattlesnake will kill you faster than an adult!

Yes he is guilty. He was involved in the commision of a felony involving a weapon. By association, he is everybit as guilty.

The moral is, dont do the crime if you dont want the punishment.

This is justified by the cops in this case. The little POS they arrested should be glad they didnt "see" a weapon on him as well. I call that restraint!

Many posts here are right on target. This is far from a new law and has been pretty widely accepted. Fact is, if you are party to the commission of a felony and a death occurs, you are complicit and therefore responsible.

A few years ago, two members of the South American Theft Groups, a transnational criminal network, were casing customers exiting a major electronics store in Miami. They were under police surveillance. When they made a move on a marked target (victim), cops moved in. The driver then attempted to run over the police. Shots were fired and the passenger of the criminal vehicle was killed. The driver - paralyzed. Among the list of charges against him upon arrest? Murder.

Death in any way is always an unfortunate circumstance. However, ones occurring during the commission of a felony are a little easier to endure, especially when there were innocent victims and potential victims involved.

It's not always "the cops."

I think it is great that we have laws like these that help sweep away the garbage.
Zero symathy. Zero pity.
I do have sympathy and pity for the everyday Joe who gets up and goes to work for his money.
These scumbags are just another example of people who don't pull their own weight in society and as long as we keep the number of leeches high, our way of life will continue to deteriorate.

The only defense I could think of for this kid is if he could convince the prosecutor he had no knowledge of the weapon. Long shot at best.

Originally posted by RickyD
But really though the 16yo boy had no way of knowing or stopping the other boy from turning towards the police. I mean how fast did it happen? Probably in the blink of an eye...he probably didn't even have the time to say drop it. This is the sad state of justice in this twisted country we live in where police are above the law. So now because this kid made a stupid mistake when he was really too young to realize the implications that would affect the rest of his life they heap a bit more on him and more than likely he will spend it in prison for 25-life. I mean really how many people that live in that state even know of this law?

Horse crap.

At 16, ANYONE knows what is right and wrong.

In this case, the cops are NOT above the law.

As far as the stupid mistake, would you (as a juror) give this POS a pass?
"Ok, Timmy. Now dont do that again. You'll be in time out."

how many people know this law? youre really making my head spin.

How many know its wrong to steal? My daughter knew that at the age of 4! She walked out of the grocery store with a pack of gum. We turned around, went to the manager (whom we knew), and made her confess, turn it back, and pay for it.

She was funny. She walked up the the manager, handed him the gum and melted down "IIIIIII'MM SOOOO SOOOORRY!".

he was talking to us a few days later and laughed about it. He said "could you give a guy a heads up next time? Little girls crying freak me out ".

She knew, and she learned.