The Huffington Post is reporting that Brandon Ross, 16, has been charged with murder after a Chicago police officer fatally shot his 15-year-old friend Tatioun Williams Wednesday on the South Side. Ross and his friend 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.
Now Ross is being charged with murder because under Illinois 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 has been charged as an adult with murder and armed robbery. He was ordered held on $900,000 bail Friday.
Um, that's a stretch. Robbery and murder are two different things. How are you going to charge a 16-year-old as an adult when the police officer actually shot and killed the suspect? Sounds like the prison-industrial complex at work, not the pursuit of justice.
No, Ross should not have been out robbing anybody; had he not done such an idiotic thing, he would not be in this predicament in the first place. However, just because he made a bad decision does not mean he should be slapped with a charge that will all but end his life, especially when he did not pull the trigger — the police officer did. We get it — if you do the crime, do the time. In this case, at least go to jail for doing the actual crime.
Read more at the Huffington Post.
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