CHICAGO — A 17-year-old boy accused of helping Endia Martin's allegedly killed hide the murder weapon was sent home Thursday by a juvenile court judge.
The teen, charged with two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm and criminal damage to property, ran from the scene with the murder weapon after 14-year-old Endia had been shot, authorities have said.
He appeared briefly in juvenile court Thursday, and a judge ordered that he be placed on home confinement pending the case, a spokesperson form the Cook County State's Attorney said.
On the afternoon of April 28, a 14-year-old girl fatally shot high school freshman Endia, also 14, authorities said. The two had been involved in a fight over a boy, police and family said.
A 14-year-old girl is charged with shooting and killing Endia. The 14-year-old and the 17-year-old are not being identified because they are juveniles.
Police have also charged an uncle who allegedly gave the teen the gun, and aunt who stood by and did nothing to prevent the murder as well as the man who prosecutors have said illegally sold the weapon and the man who illegally bought it.
Uncle Donnell Flora, 25, of the 8300 block of South Buffalo Avenue, took the bus with a loaded gun to give to his niece "knowing she was going to become involved in a physical fight with the victim," Jamie Santini, an assistant state's attorney, said Wednesday when Flora appeared in court.
Flora is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm.
"(The 14-year-old suspect) admitted to shooting the victims and named the defendant, her uncle, as the person who provided her the loaded gun after she requested him to do so telling him she was going to be involved in a fight," Santini said.
The gun, a Smith and Wesson .38 special revolver, led to charges against a man who wasn't involved in the murder and claims that he knew nether the victim nor her alleged killer.
Robert James, 34, was charged in connection to Endia's murder for illegally selling his firearm and then making a false report that it had been stolen in November.
James bought the revolver from Chuck's Gun Shop in Riverdale, according to court records. He sold it to another man in November. Then, somehow, the gun ended up in the hands of Flora, the 14-year-old's uncle.
Vandetta Redwood, an aunt of the teen accused in Endia's murder, stands accused of going to the scene of the murder "knowing that her 14-year-old niece and her friends were going to use force and violence against the (two) victims," Santini said.
Redwood is charged with felony mob action for failing to call the police or try to stop the fight that lead to the murder, police said.
In a video that captured the incident, Santini said Redwood was standing next to the 14-year-old shooter with two other girls nearby — one armed with a bottle and one armed with a pipe.
When police questioned Redwood about it, she lied and said she wasn't there, Santini said.
The number of people accused of having a hand in the shooting death of the 14-year-old girl is six.
