Mom of boy shot by sheriff’s deputy tells son: ‘You got to do better, you could have been dead’

The on-duty deputy was at a car wash when the teen allegedly tried to steal the officer’s corvette. The 16-year-old, who faces aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle, burglary and criminal trespassing charges, will remain in custody of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.

SHARE Mom of boy shot by sheriff’s deputy tells son: ‘You got to do better, you could have been dead’
A 16-year-old boy was shot by a sheriff’s deputy June 17, 2019 in Little Village

A 16-year-old was ordered held in juvenile detention on carjacking charges for allegedly trying to steal a Corvette belonging to a Cook County Sheriff’s officer who had gone to a car wash while on break.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A teenage boy who was shot by an on-duty Cook County sheriff’s deputy when he allegedly tried to steal the officer’s Corvette from a Little Village car wash will remain in custody of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center despite the two bullets lodged in his shoulder.

The 16-year-old on Thursday made his first appearance in Juvenile Court, where he faces charges of aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle, burglary and criminal trespassing.

The tall, lanky teen wore a sling and kept his left arm tucked underneath his brown juvenile detention T-shirt as he appeared before Judge Daryl Jones. When the boy grew woozy as Assistant State’s Attorney Eamonn Sheehan outlined the evidence against him, a courtroom deputy brought him a chair, prompting a soft sob from his mother, who stood behind the boy clutching a tissue.

When the judge asked the boy’s mother if she had anything to say before he decided to keep the teem in custody, she launched into a pained diatribe.

“You got to do better, baby! You could have been dead! You got two bullets in you right now! You can’t even stand up!” she shouted, as the boy slumped forward in his chair and occasionally wiped his eyes. “You got to do better... the streets don’t love you. I do, and you’re hurting me every day.”

It was not the teen’s first time in front of Jones, who in March placed the teen on probation for a 2016 car theft, a light sentence he said he gave out only because the teen had recently been released after serving time in juvenile detention in Indiana. The teen also had committed more technical violations of his probation by failing to complete community service hours and skipping classes at an alternative school for more than a month, Sheehan said.

Sheehan said on Monday the teen slipped behind the wheel of the deputy’s 2017 Corvette that was parked at a car wash a few blocks from the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, where the deputy works. The deputy, who was on a lunch break, had left the car open, with the keys in it, and walked over to talk to the driver of another car.

The sheriff’s deputy heard the engine rev and turned to see the teen in the driver’s seat, moving as if to put the car in gear, Sheehan said. He shouted at the teen and fired “two to four shots” at him. The teen was still behind the wheel when police arrived moments later, prosecutors said.

The sheriff’s deputy has been on administrative duties since the shooting.

The teen complained Thursday that he had not been treated other than to have the wounds in his shoulder cleaned and bandaged at a hospital.

“I got two bullets in me,” he said. “The bullets in my body, they could move around where they could hurt me, where I could die.”

The officer was taken to the hospital Monday after experiencing shortness of breath, but was treated and released.

Assistant Public Defender Helen Paxton asked that the teen be released on electronic monitoring, noting that he hadn’t used a weapon or broken into the car. The only weapon recovered at the scene was the officer’s pistol, Chicago police said.

“This was a crime of opportunity,” Paxton said. “The owner of the car was not placed in harm, the minor did not try to hurt him, had no weapon to hurt him.

“And the minor was shot. I think some level of justice has already been served,” Paxton continued, drawing some chuckles from court staffers seated in the tiny gallery.

The Latest
Eileen O’Neill Burke is leading Clayton Harris III, 50.15% to 49.85%, a margin that changed only by hundredths of a percentage point, after city and suburban officials tallied more mail-in ballots Thursday.
The suspect’s son witnessed the shooting of at least five relatives, according to Joliet police reports obtained through a public records request. The reports also indicate the boy’s mother was more deeply involved in the case than first thought.
Counsell is measured and stoic, more so than Joe Maddon or David Ross. After Justin Steele’s Opening Day injury, Counsell will put his head down, pace and figure it out.
The Cubs opened the season against the reigning World Series champions in Texas.