Gun-controlled Chicago: Two teens out buying candy reportedly shot dead after commenting on the shooter’s height
https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com...dead-after-commenting-on-the-shooters-height/
We’ve already seen that in Chicago, you can get shot for pretty much any reason. You can be a three-year-old riding in a car with your father and get shot. You can be a thirteen-year-old girl sitting in your living room and get shot.
There really is no rhyme or reason to it. Last weekend, two teens were shot and killed for having the audacity to comment on someone’s height.
Laroy Battle, 19, of Englewood killed two teenagers at a South Shore gas station while buying candy.
Deputy Chief Brandan Deenihan announced at a Thursday news conference that Battle had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and possession of a controlled substance, the
Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The two teens, Jasean Francis, 17, and Charles Riley 16 were described as “very good kids from really excellent families” by Deenihan. Last Saturday at around 5:10 p.m., they went to the gas station with another friend to buy candy when they ran into Battle.
The teens, who didn’t know Battle, who stands 6-foot-3, commented on how tall he was, then purchasing their candy and leaving the store. Deenihan said there was no altercation between Battle and the teens.
Battle followed them out of the store and fired nine shots at the teens, striking them both. They were transported to University of Chicago Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead. The third teen was not struck, according to Chicago Police.
On Thursday, Battle was tracked down to a motel in west suburban Schiller Park and arrested after he was identified via surveillance images. Battle admitted being the man seen on surveillance cameras, however never offered a motive in the shooting.
Battle had three previous arrests and one conviction for unlawful use of a weapon, for which he received probation, Deenihan said.
They asked him how tall he was, and hoped to be that tall someday,” Deenihan said. “Obviously, we’ll never see the full growth of these poor children.”
The two teens were among 12 minors who were shot, five of them fatally, during a violent Father’s Day weekend that saw 104 people shot in total.
