GUILTY Il - Endia Martin, 14, Shot To Death, Chicago, 28 April 2014

[Indy Anna]

One of Endia’s cousins, Ricky Jacox, who attended her funeral, said the glorification of violence needs to end.

“We’re all asking the same question—when’s it going to stop? When are people going to learn from this and not showboat it and look at it as something to glorify,” Jacox tolf WGN-TV. “It’s really a problem going on.”

<snipped>

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-05-05/news/chi-mourners-pack-funerals-for-teen-and-community-activist-20140505_1_community-activist-14-year-old-girl-mourners

 

[Indy Anna]

<snipped>

A 17-year-old South Side boy accused of trying to flee with a gun after it was used to kill 14-year-old Endia Martin last month was released into the custody of his mother but a juvenile court judge today sternly ordered him on home confinement.

<snipped>

Court officials said he&#8217;d been at the hospital, but his injury was not disclosed. He had medical tape affixed to the middle of his upper arm and what appeared to be hospital bracelets around his right wrist.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-05-08/news/chi-teen-ordered-to-home-confinement-in-endia-martin-slaying-20140508_1_home-confinement-boy-juvenile-court-judge-today

 

[Indy Anna]

Endia Martin

 

[PastTense]

The April killing has since become a focal point in the debate over how the criminal justice system treats juveniles in Cook County.

Prosecutors are seeking to try the girl as an adult. As early as next month, a juvenile court judge will make the decision, weighing factors such as her criminal history and potential for rehabilitation.

Records show that since being held in the county's Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, the girl has had some disciplinary issues &#8212; including a fistfight &#8212; but has also earned good grades at the facility's school

.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...illing-juvenile-adult-met-20141222-story.html

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...rtin-killing-juvenile-met-20150126-story.html

Prosecutors are seeking to try the girl as an adult in the killing of 14-year-old Endia Martin in a dispute over a boy last April...

Endia's family has made it clear that they feel justice demands that the slaying suspect be tried as an adult. Dukes wept in August when the girl was allowed to embrace her mother at the end of a court hearing. After Endia's mom was helped to a conference room, her cries could still be heard in the courtroom.

 

[OkieGranny]

From October:

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/10...lling-endia-martin-wont-be-tried-as-an-adult/

A teenage girl accused of killing 14-year-old Endia Martin won&#8217;t be tried as an adult... Brooks also denied prosecutors&#8217; motion to move forward with the case through a measure called extended juvenile jurisdiction, which would make the girl subject to an adult sentence if she failed to complete her juvenile sentence satisfactorily...

Flora, 27, is awaiting trial for his role in the crime.

A teenage boy who hid the murder weapon was given probation.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...-martin-killing-gun-trial-met-0131-story.html

A jury found a man guilty of murder in the killing of a teen girl over a Facebook dispute, rejecting a claim by his defense attorney that the man was only trying to protect his niece when he brought a revolver to the confrontation that ended with Endia Martin dead.

Donnell Flora, 27, was found guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery charges in the death of 14-year-old Endia, who Cook County prosecutors say was shot by Flora's niece outside a home in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood in April 2014.

 

[0101ABA]

Feb 2016

Two weeks after invoking her Fifth Amendment rights at her cousin's murder trial, a relative of a teen girl charged with fatally shooting Endia Martin has been indicted on federal weapons charges.

Vandetta Redwood, 34, allegedly handed a loaded revolver to the girl, then 14, and said, "Shoot the b----!" during a 2014 confrontation between the 14-year-old and another girl that had started with a feud over a boy and was fueled by social media taunts, according to testimony at the recent murder trial. The other girl was wounded and 14-year-old Endia was killed outside a home in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...-killing-aunt-charged-met-20160211-story.html

March 2016

Moments later, Endia's family applauded when the judge sentenced Donnell Flora to 100 years in prison for giving his 14-year-old niece the revolver she allegedly used to kill Endia and wound Endia's best friend in a 2014 dispute over a boy.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...illing-uncle-sentenced-me-20160321-story.html

June 2016

A girl charged in the 2014 killing of 14-year-old Endia Martin marked her 17th birthday Friday as Cook County prosecutors filed an appeal on a legal issue that could delay her murder trial in juvenile court for months.

Prosecutors said they appealed Judge Stuart Katz's April ruling allowing the shooting suspect to have a jury decide her fate. By law, juvenile defendants are not guaranteed a jury trial.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...illing-juvenile-court-met-20160617-story.html

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

October 2016:

Trial delayed for Chicago woman accused of giving niece gun

A federal judge has postponed the trial for a Chicago woman accused of supplying her 14-year-old niece with a gun that was used in the killing of a teenage rival.

Attorneys for 35-year-old Vandetta Redwood told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve on Monday they need more time to research a ballistics report that prosecutors turned over to them last week. Federal prosecutors told the judge they wouldn't oppose the delay "with great reluctance." The judge set a new trial date for Jan. 17.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Trial opens for woman charged with handing over gun in killing of Endia Martin, 14

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-endia-martin-killing-trial-met-20170118-story.html

On Wednesday, a second criminal trial stemming from the high-profile killing got underway in federal court. Vandetta Redwood is accused of handing the weapon to her teenage cousin seconds before the girl opened fire, striking Endia in the back and wounding another girl in the arm in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.

Redwood, 35, was charged with giving a handgun to a juvenile knowing it would be used to commit a crime of violence as well as possession of a firearm in a school zone. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

It's the second criminal case Redwood has faced stemming from the shooting. In 2014, Redwood had been charged in Cook County court with obstruction of justice and mob action, but Judge Donald Panarese Jr. threw out the case after viewing the shaky cellphone video of the incident and concluding prosecutors had failed to meet their "minimal burden" to justify the charges.

Meanwhile, the girl who allegedly opened fire, now 17, is awaiting trial on murder charges. The Tribune is not naming her because she was charged as a juvenile.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Woman acquitted of handing gun to cousin in killing of 14-year-old Endia Martin

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-endia-martin-killing-verdict-met-20170126-story.html

A federal jury on Thursday acquitted a South Side woman of handing her teenage cousin a loaded gun seconds before the girl allegedly opened fire and killed 14-year-old Endia Martin during an after-school fight.

The jury deliberated less than six hours before acquitting Vandetta Redwood on both counts she faced: giving a handgun to a juvenile knowing it would be used to commit a crime of violence as well as possessing a firearm in a school zone.

The eight-day trial marked the second time that Redwood has beaten a criminal charge stemming from Endia's killing. In 2014, she had been charged in Cook County court with obstruction of justice and mob action, but Judge Donald Panarese Jr. threw out the case after viewing the cellphone video of the incident and concluding prosecutors had failed to meet their "minimal burden" to justify the charges.

Last year, a Cook County jury convicted the owner of the .38-caliber revolver, Donnell Flora, of first-degree murder and attempted murder for bringing the weapon to the scene. Flora, who is Redwood's cousin, was sentenced in March to 100 years in prison.

Meanwhile, the girl who allegedly opened fire, now 17, is awaiting trial on murder charges. The Tribune is not naming her because she was charged as a juvenile.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

State Supreme Court rules teen cannot be tried by jury in Endia Martin's killing

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-supreme-court-jury-trial-20171018-story.html

The teen girl charged with killing 14-year-old Endia Martin in 2014 is not entitled by law to a jury trial in juvenile court, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Attorneys for the shooting suspect, who was 14 at the time of Endia’s fatal shooting, had requested that a jury decide her fate.

Under Illinois law, though, only juvenile defendants with repeated or violent criminal histories can be eligible for jury trials. The teen charged in Endia’s killing had no previous convictions.

A trial in Endia’s killing has been delayed for more than a year as the state’s highest court weighed the decision. The next court hearing for the shooting suspect is set for late November.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-guilty-endia-martin-killing-20180119-story.html

Days before a scheduled trial in Cook County juvenile court, a teen charged in the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Endia Martin pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, the state’s attorney’s office confirmed Friday.

The teen, whom the Tribune is not naming because she was charged as a juvenile, pleaded guilty Tuesday, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office. The girl, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 4.

Now 18 and already in custody for nearly four years, she could be paroled under the law as early as next year, said Athena Farmakis, the prosecutor who handled the case.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/teen-girl-shot-endia-martin-facebook-taunts-sentencing/

The teenage girl who shot and killed 14-year-old Endia Martin in 2014 will have to wait at least two more months to learn her fate.

A sentencing hearing for the teen, originally set for Wednesday — just a few weeks shy of the fourth anniversary of Martin’s slaying — had been set for Wednesday in Cook County Juvenile Court. Instead, due to a scheduling conflict, it is now scheduled for June 20.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Teen eligible for parole next April in 2014 Facebook feud killing of Endia Martin

A Chicago teenager who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting 14-year-old Endia Martin in a street fight in 2014 that escalated from a Facebook feud over a boy received the maximum juvenile sentence.

She was handed a mandatory sentence of at least five years in custody, and she can't be held beyond her 21st birthday. With the time she has already served, she will be eligible for parole next April.

She asked the family of Endia Martin for forgiveness and acknowledged: "Nothing I can say will mend your hearts."

Teen Will Spend Up To 2 More Years In Custody For Murder Of Endia Martin

Prosecutors said the teen who killed Endia was “given a gift” by being allowed to stay in the juvenile justice system, rather than being tried as an adult.

Judge Stewart Katz said, despite his nearly 35 years in law, he is “still amazed and appalled at the lack of respect for the sanctity of human life.”

“This is beyond stupid obviously,” he said.

Chicago teen receives up to 2 more years in prison for the slaying of 14-year-old Endia Martin

In a letter read in court by a prosecutor, Jonie Dukes (Endia’s mother) wrote about her disbelief at seeing Endia in a hospital bed, hooked up to a maze of machines, after she was shot in the back.

“It was Endia lying there, but where was the beautiful smile that everybody was used to seeing? It wasn’t there,” the letter said. “Endia was so vibrant, graceful and so alive.”

Dukes’ letter said that she and her three children continue to struggle every day without Endia.

“This is something that could have been avoided,” the letter said. “I feel numb with grief and pain. Endia had so many dreams just like her siblings.”

 

[Harmony 2]

A teenager who shot and killed 14-year-old Endia Martin four years ago received a maximum term in juvenile court, a sentence that could see her paroled on her first-degree murder conviction as soon as next spring, or kept in custody until she turns 21.

Teen gets maximum juvenile sentence for Endia Martin murder

 

[Harmony 2]

The girl also was 14 at the time of the shooting. She will turn 19 this summer and will be eligible for parole in April. Judge Stewart Katz’s sentence ended the legalities linked to the Endia Martin saga, but not the pain.

The Endia Martin heartbreak: How a gun changed everything