Still Think This One Is Innocent?

[Pedro56]

News
Boy in Harris case arrested
June 17, 2006

BY STEFANO ESPOSITO AND LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporters Advertisement

He was 7 years old when he was wrongly arrested for the murder of 11-year-old Ryan Harris, 13 when the city of Chicago handed him a $2 million settlement -- and now at 15 he is under arrest for a Calumet Park double shooting that left one man on life support, police said.

Investigators said the teen was caught on video surveillance in the June 14 daylight shooting.

"He turned around and looked at the camera with a gun in his hand," Calumet Park Cmdr. Mel Davis said Friday evening. "It doesn't get any clearer than that."


THE RYAN HARRIS CASE AND ITS AFTERMATH

August 1998: Two boys, 7 and 8, are arrested and charged with murder in the death of 11-year-old Ryan Harris.

September 1998: Charges are dropped because police realize that semen on the girl's underwear could not have been produced by the boys.

February 1999: The older boy sues the city.

April 1999: Police charge Floyd Durr, 30, with Harris' murder.

May 1999: The younger boy sues the city.

September 2004: The younger boy, now 13 years old, is charged as a juvenile with unlawful use of a weapon after accidentally shooting his 15-year-old friend in the leg.

October 2004: The city of Chicago settles with the younger boy for $2 million the day jury selection was supposed to begin in his suit against the city.

September 2005: The city settles with the older boy for $6.2 million after aldermen urge a $10 million settlement.

June 2006: The younger boy, now 15, is arrested after a shooting in Calumet Park.


The teen's older brother was also being held in connection with the shooting. The state's attorney's office was reviewing possible charges against both late Friday.

The victim on life support, whose name was not released, was at St. Francis Hospital and Health Center in Blue Island, Calumet Park police Chief Mark Davis said.

The second victim, who has been interviewed by investigators, suffered a bullet wound to a leg, Mark Davis said.

Investigators said the teen is well known to Calumet Park authorities as a troubled youth with numerous past scrapes for "various minor infractions."

Investigators said things could have been worse had the teen's gun not jammed during the shooting.

The shooting occurred about noon Wednesday at a Citgo gas station in the 12300 block of South Halsted.

Before the gunfire erupted, the two victims were inside a parked white Chevrolet sedan at the gas station. One of the victims had just returned from a nearby liquor store. The teen approached the driver's side door while his brother approached the front passenger's side, Mark Davis said. Each was armed with a 9mm handgun, he said. Multiple shots were fired, Mark Davis said.

"They are shooting at the car, but one guy is on one side and the other is shooting on the other side," Mark Davis said. "They could have ended up shooting each other."

Police arrived almost instantly, Mark Davis said.

"Less than 15 seconds after the offenders were out of the picture of the video, you can see our bike patrol roll up, because they were right down the street when this happened," Mark Davis said.

The alleged shooters were both arrested within 48 hours, police said.

Investigators had recovered four shell casings from the scene, Mark Davis said.

The teen had not given a statement to police, Mel Davis said. His mother is "concerned for his safety and wanted to be in the room with him while he was being questioned," he said. She explained to Davis that her son is afraid of police and angry with anyone in law enforcement.

Charged in Ryan Harris murder



In 1998, the teen -- then 7 years old -- was charged, along with an 8-year-old, with the murder of Ryan Harris.

At the time, the boys were believed to be among the youngest murder suspects in the nation. Police said the boys had confessed to the crime and knew information about the girl's death only the murderers would know.

Five weeks later, the charges were dropped. Ryan's underwear was found to have traces of semen -- something the boys were too young to produce. DNA tests subsequently linked the genetic evidence to Floyd Durr, a South Side man.

In April, Durr pleaded guilty to murdering and sexually assaulting Ryan Harris.

Over the objections of Ryan's mother, Judge Stanley Sacks accepted the guilty pleas and sentenced Durr to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors said Durr grabbed Ryan Harris while she was riding her bike on July 27, 1998. Her body was discovered a day later in a vacant Englewood lot. Her underwear had been shoved down her throat. A brick smeared with blood lay nearby.

Contributing: Abdon Pallasch

[Pedro56]

This happened in the Englewood community at around 67th and Lowe. The boys were on the scene at one point with the Harris girl. Charges were still dropped against them.

[conalabu]

Sick and twisted. Some butt monkey is going to start screaming "this what happens when the police are over zealous with juvies, blah blah blah." My question: Where was the mother, who is so concerned she has to sit with her baby during questioning, when all this stuff was happening? 7&8 and alone and out and about? Yup, our fault entirely, sorry, ma'am.

[Growler]

Today's juvenile, tomorrow's adult offender.