Prosecutors drop charges in fatal shooting of Roosevelt football player

A man in custody for nearly two years was released from the Cook County Jail on Thursday after prosecutors decided to drop the charges against him.

SHARE Prosecutors drop charges in fatal shooting of Roosevelt football player
Jeremiah Parker in an undated photo from Facebook

Jeremiah Parker was killed during an attempted carjacking in 2016 in Austin.

Facebook

After spending nearly two years in jail, a 21-year-old man walked free this week after prosecutors dropped a slew of murder charges against him in the death of a well-liked high school football player who was shot three years ago in Austin.

Seventeen-year-old Jeremiah Parker was shot multiple times shortly after getting out of a car Nov. 7, 2016 in the 500 block of North Lockwood in what police said was an attempted carjacking.

A man in a black hoodie approached Parker about 8:30 that night and demanded the keys to Parker’s car, police said. They struggled. Parker was shot in chest and arm. He died hours later at Stroger Hospital, authorities said.

The shooter ran off without taking Parker’s car.

On Oct. 28, 2017, Kentrell Creamer, then 19, appeared in court, charged with first-degree murder in Parker’s death. He was ordered held without bail. Creamer was later indicted on 23 felony counts of murder, as well as felony counts of armed robbery and vehicular hijacking, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

On Thursday, prosecutors dropped the charges against Creamer and he was released from the Cook County Jail.

“After a thorough review, it was determined that there was insufficient evidence in this case to meet our burden of proof and proceed,” Aviva Bowen, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, said in a statement Friday.

A message left with the assistant public defender who represented Creamer was not returned and Creamer could not be reached for comment.

Parker’s relatives did not respond to a request for comment.

Parker, who lived in East Garfield Park, had dreams of playing football in college.

His coach, Germaine Padilla, posted on Facebook after Parker’s death:

“I have worked with inner city kids for nearly 20 years now and sometimes things like this happen and when you know the lifestyle they live, then a tragedy like this is almost expected. Jeremiah was not that kid!!,” Padilla wrote. “He was an amazing young man with a Barry White type voice. He would answer all his coaches by saying, ‘Yes Coach’ or ‘No Coach.’ He was a leader on and off the field and everyone enjoyed his beautiful smile. This kid always did what was asked of him and more!! He exemplified everything we wanted our Rough Riders to be.”

The Latest
The man was found unresponsive in an alley in the 10700 block of South Lowe Avenue, police said.
The man suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.