Boy, 15, fatally shot near Obama's Chicago home

April 23, 2013 @ 6:19 pm

CHICAGO (AP) - A 15-year-old boy was shot and killed in a backyard about four blocks from President Barack Obama's Chicago home, police said Tuesday.

Cornelius German of Chicago was found unresponsive around 9:40 p.m. Monday. He had been shot in the back and was pronounced dead at the scene on the city's South Side, police told The Associated Press.

No arrests had been made as of late Tuesday afternoon, they said.

The teen's death comes about three months after the fatal shooting of another 15-year-old, Hadiya Pendleton, who was gunned down in a park about a mile from the Obama home in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago. Police have said the alleged gunman opened fire after mistaking someone in the group of young people that the girl was with for a member of a rival street gang. Two men face first-degree murder and other charges in the Jan. 29 shooting.

Police spokesman John Mirabelli said the motive in the latest shooting death was not known, but that German was affiliated with a street gang.

German's mother said he was supposed to be waiting for her to pick him up Monday night on a nearby street corner but was not there when she arrived. Then, after she saw several police cars race by, she started to worry that it had something to do with her son.

"I had this sinking gut feeling something wasn't right," Timika Rutledge, 42, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I saw a police officer. He said a little kid got shot. Somehow, I knew it was my baby. I went back there. I saw my baby on the ground in the grass. I saw his gym shoes and his jacket."

The mother was told by friends that her son was leaving a dice game when he was shot, though he was not the intended target. Police did not confirm that.

Family members deny that German was affiliated with any gang, but said he had older friends who were likely involved with gangs.

"It's just sad another 15-year-old boy is dead, my nephew," Kameisha Andrews told the Sun-Times. "It didn't even happen far from his home. He was doing what teenagers do. (He was) just kicking it with friends."


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (5)


  • Add A Comment

  • Snout wrote...
    Chicago has super strict gun control laws
    January 30, 2013 5:29 am
    How could this have happened?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Instead of failed inanimate object control
    January 30, 2013 6:44 am
    Try to control criminals instead.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    Well I am Shocked!!
    February 20, 2013 7:18 pm
    Just kidding. Not really. Oh well, at least we got a gang banger AND a baby factory off the street. Two-fer!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • adiru wrote...
    They got the wrong guy
    February 20, 2013 7:53 pm
    At Obama's state of the union speach, he said it was a bullet that killed her. He didn't mention anything about a person at the other end. It's a good think our ace golfer is gonna lock up all them guns after the police release this guy.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • BARLOW wrote...
    2 men plead not guilty
    March 28, 2013 4:27 pm
    They aren't men their punks. Men don't do this kind of trash.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }