CHICAGO — Police have arrested a 16-year-old boy in connection with the fatal shooting of a city worker who was leaving a Starbucks a block from the Chicago Police Department headquarters in Bronzeville.
Yvonne Nelson, 49, was fatally shot while leaving a Starbucks in the 3500 block of South State Street on May 20. Nelson, a bystander, was shot in the chest and later died at Stroger Hospital.
Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said at a news conference Friday evening that the 16-year-old was arrested in the 9600 block of South Wentworth Avenue by police and U.S. marshals.
He fired eight shots at a rival gang member nearby, but one struck Nelson as she walked out of the Starbucks, Johnson said. The targeted gang member,19, also was hit.
The teen suspect, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, will be charged with first-degree murder, Johnson said. Police said they hope prosecutors charge him as an adult.
"I've spoken publicly far too many times about the senseless loss of life that has occurred as a result of illegal guns and brazen offenders who are willing to use them without repercussion," Johnson said. "Back in May, I said to the press standing in this room that if an offenders chooses a lifestyle that fuels in the engine of violence in our city, they will feel the full weight of the Chicago Police Department."
The teen was placed on probation last year for multiple robberies with a BB gun in 2014, police said.
Eugene Roy, chief of detectives, told reporters that police were given footage from surveillance cameras in the area that helped them identify Nelson's killer.
Roy told reporters that the suspect's family members were uncooperative.
Nelson had worked for 12 years as a 311 dispatcher. Her neighbors described her as a quiet and kind woman, and her slaying evoked a reaction for Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
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