CHICAGO — A 17-year-old boy who fatally shot a 16-year-old during a chaotic evening in Millennium Park opened fire near The Bean after the younger boy jumped on his back and punched him in the head, Cook County prosecutors said in court Monday.
As Marion Richardson was being arrested, he told police, “You guys ain’t gonna do nothing anyways, a hundred (expletive) walking toward me, what am I supposed to do? You all just sitting there, bro,” Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said in court.
Richardson faces one count of second-degree murder alleging he killed 16-year-old Seandell Holliday in an unreasonable belief that he was justified in firing out of self-defense. Richardson is also charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, a more serious felony, meaning the case was automatically transferred to adult court.
Cook County Judge Mary Marubio ordered Richardson held on a $250,000 cash bond with electronic monitoring. He will have to pay the entire amount in order to be released to house arrest as his case is pending.
Police said hundreds of young people were in Millennium Park on Saturday evening, creating a mass disturbance. In court Monday, Murphy said the large group gatherings are known as “trends,” which are advertised on social media, and Richardson had participated in one previously.
Before the shooting Saturday, Richardson noticed a group of people nearby that included a boy with whom he had gotten into a fight at a previous trend, Murphy said. That group at one point seemed to disperse, but then came back and began following Richardson, according to prosecutors.
A female started arguing with Richardson, and Richardson’s friend began to pull him away from the group, Murphy said. That’s when Holliday came up on Richardson from behind, jumped on his back and punched him in the head, Murphy said. Another male walked up and also appeared to punch Richardson, he said.
Richardson then pulled out a handgun and shot Holliday in the chest, then fled, Murphy said. As he ran, he dropped the gun, picked it up, put it in his waistband and continued running, Murphy said.
Officers gave chase and detained him in the grass at Millennium Park, where they recovered from his pants a .380-caliber semi-automatic with a laser attachment and an extended magazine containing seven live hollow-point bullets, Murphy said.
Much of the encounter was captured on camera, including social media videos of the actual shooting, surveillance footage of the events leading up to it, and body-camera video of the foot pursuit and arrest, Murphy said.
Richardson’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Kate Moriarty, noted that Richardson has no criminal history and he was supposed to start a job at a restaurant this week.
Moriarty also argued that the case was charged inappropriately and should not be in adult court at all, saying she believes prosecutors brought the aggravated battery count solely to keep the case out of juvenile court. Prosecutors denied that allegation, and while Marubio called Moriarty’s argument “very compelling,” she declined to send the case to juvenile court.
In setting a high bond, Marubio noted Richardson’s age and lack of criminal history, but said there was a “brazenness” to bringing a loaded gun to a crowded park where there was a police presence.
Richardson was one of two people detained in the park shortly after Holliday was shot about 7:30 p.m., which is also when hundreds of teens were moving through the area, creating a disturbance and prompting a large police response. More than two dozen juveniles eventually were arrested.
But the 17-year-old specifically was seen on video in an “altercation” with Holliday just before a gunshot was heard, according to a police report.
He also ran from police and was found in possession of a weapon that had “one shell casing that had stove-piped,” it said.
Saturday’s shooting happened about 7:30 p.m. in the 200 block of East Randolph Street. Around the same time, police were responding “in the area of downtown and Millennium Park” to what they deemed a large crowd “disturbance,” involving 400 to 500 teenagers, according to estimates.
Holliday was taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital, initially in critical condition, according to Larry Merritt, a Fire Department spokesman. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 8:12 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
A second male, whose age was not listed in the police report, also was “observed in close proximity to (the 17-year-old) at the time of his arrest.” He also was seen pulling a gun from his waistband, but the police report notes he only took out the weapon after Holliday had been shot. When he saw officers coming toward him he also took off running, the report said, but he was stopped and detained after a brief foot chase.
The gun the second male pulled from his waistband was a ghost gun, meaning it does not have a serial number and can’t be traced, according to the report. It was not immediately clear whether police had filed charges against the male with the ghost gun.
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