Two teens charged in death of two boys found shot to death in field

Two teens were charged with fatally shooting two boys whose bodies were found in August in a Far South Side field.

The names of the teens, ages 16 and 17, were not released. Each faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Raysuan Turner and Darnelle Flowers and will appear in Central Bond Court on Saturday, according to a statement from Chicago police.

Turner, 16, and Flowers, 17, were found shot to death just before midnight on Aug. 19 in a wooded area near 131st Street and Rhodes Avenue, near Golden Gate Park. Autopsies found both were shot several times.

Turner’s mother, Rayneicia Morris, said Friday that police told her the slayings were likely part of a “murder-for-hire” plot. She said one of the teens who was charged went to school with Turner and Flowers. Police investigating the killings had detained and questioned both teens before, Morris said.

“It’s hell,” she said. “It’s been the hardest job I’ve had in my life, working this case, looking for information constantly. … I hope that these boys never come out of jail.”

Morris had questioned the teens herself back in August, when Turner and Flowers first went missing, she said. One denied knowing Turner at all, and the second said he knew him but hadn’t seen him.

A missing person alert for Turner and Flowers, who went by “Bibby,” was issued less than eight hours before they were found.

Chicago police declined to provide further details on the motive Friday night. In August, police said they were exploring robbery as a possible motive.

Flowers had been arrested by Chicago Police seven times before his death on charges related to weapons, carjacking and battery, and was a documented gang member, a police source said. Turner had no criminal history.

Jazmine Turner, Turner’s step-mom, said the months since his death have been “excruciating,” but Friday feels like a victory.

“It’s not totally over because we do have to go to trial,” she said. “I just hope these boys get locked up and don’t get out of jail ever. If our boy’s life was just taken, their lives should be taken too.”