CHICAGO — A 14-year-old boy was taken into police custody this week in the murder of an openly gay high school student on the city's South Side.
Terrance Wright, 18, was a student at Banner Academy South High School who police said was shot in the chest in the 9900 block of South Yates Avenue on Oct. 19 when he fought back against a group of five males trying to rob him.
It happened about 3:40 p.m. just a few blocks from the school. Wright was declared dead about an hour later, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
A teenage boy four years younger than Wright was implicated in the murder, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office spokesman Andy Conklin said Tuesday.
The boy's name is being withheld because he is a minor. He appeared in juvenile court Monday and was ordered held in juvenile custody until a Nov. 13 court date, Conklin said.
He faces three counts of murder, and one count each of attempted robbery, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm, Conklin said.
Wright's family wants his murder investigated as a hate crime, even though authorities have not indicated if his sexual orientation factored into the shooting.
