CHICAGO (AP) - The Latest on the trial in the killing of a Chicago teenager days after she participated in then-President Barack Obama’s inaugural festivities (all times local):
7:10 p.m.
Testimony got underway in the trial of two men charged in the death of a Chicago teenager days after she participated in then-President Barack Obama’s inaugural festivities in 2013.
Separate juries are hearing the cases against Micheail Ward and Kenneth Williams in the death of Hadiya Pendleton.
Former Chicago police officer Ronald Evans lives near the park where Pendleton was shot to death. He testified Tuesday he saw a man with a gun running from the shooting scene.
Evans said the man was wearing a “weird blue color” sweatshirt matching one prosecutors produced.
Prosecutors also called a gang member, Ernest Finner, who testified he couldn’t remember the day Pendleton was shot.
Prosecutors said Finner gave them a detailed statement and testified before a grand jury that he overheard a nervous Williams confess to the shooting. When shown the sworn statement, Finner said he didn’t remember.
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2 p.m.
Defense lawyers highlighted a lack of physical evidence in the trial of two men charged in the 2013 shooting death of a 15-year-old Chicago student just days after she performed with her high school band at then-President Barack Obama’s inaugural festivities.
Separate juries are hearing the cases against Micheail Ward and Kenneth Williams in the death of Hadiya Pendleton. Lawyers gave opening statements and began questioning witnesses Tuesday.
Ward’s attorney, Julie Koehler, told jurors that investigators don’t have the gun, found no shell casings at the scene or gunshot residue in the car used by Ward and Williams.
Pendleton was with friends at a park 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from Obama’s Chicago home when she was shot in what prosecutors say was a botched attempt at gang retaliation. Prosecutors said the then-18-year-old Ward was the gunman and that Williams, who was 20, was the getaway driver.
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6:15 a.m.
Two men are standing trial in the 2013 shooting death of a 15-year-old Chicago student just days after she performed with her high school band at then-President Barack Obama’s inaugural festivities.
Separate juries have been selected to hear the cases against Micheail Ward and Kenneth Williams in the death of Hadiya Pendleton. Opening statements begin Tuesday.
Pendleton was with friends at a park 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from Obama’s Chicago home when she was shot in what prosecutors say was a botched attempt at gang retaliation. Prosecutors say the then-18-year-old Ward was the gunman and that Williams, who was 20, was the getaway driver.
Lawyers for the suspects have called the state’s evidence deeply flawed and note that no physical evidence ties either defendant to the shooting.
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