WORLD, I don't know what to say. For people who live in Chicago, the names of Eric Morse and Ryan Harris will always be in our minds as some of the most tragic news to ever hit Chicago regarding Chicago. Now both are in the current news again; an unbelievable chain of events stemming from some of the most unthinkable crimes in Chicago's history.
For those who don't know about Eric Morse, this excerpt was taking from the blogsite THE VIEW FROM THE GROUND (http://www.viewfromtheground.com/archive/2001/06/in-memory-of-eric-morse-part-i.html): "On October 13, 1994, two boys, ages 10 and 11, dropped Eric Morse, age 5, from the window of a vacant apartment on the 14th floor of 3833 S. Langley, a CHA high-rise at the Darrow Homes. Tried as juveniles, the boys were found delinquent in the killing of Morse and given the maximum sentence of five years."
Here's the update, taken from a July 2nd 2010 Chicago Sun Times story by RUMMANA HUSSAIN (Criminal Courts Reporter)(http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/2456852,CST-NWS-lemon02.article):
"When he was 9, Derrick Lemon took the stand to testify how he tried to save his younger brother before he was tossed out of the 14th-floor window of an abandoned Ida B. Wells high-rise. The case received national attention in 1994 because of the age of his 5-year-old brother's killers: 10 and 11. Lemon, now 23, was back in court this week. This time, however, it was Lemon who was convicted of taking the life of someone trying to protect another. A Cook County jury found Lemon guilty Thursday of murdering his aunt's 40-year-old boyfriend, Illya Glover, on March 1, 2006, after Glover tried to stop Lemon from choking her at a family barbecue.
Lemon started attacking his aunt when she asked him to leave the residence in the 400 block of West 57th during a heated argument, prosecutors said. When Glover attempted to intervene, Lemon shot him several times.
Earlier this year, Lemon was also charged with home invasion and intimidating a witness to the murder after he allegedly broke into the home of a witness, prosecutors said. Lemon, who had been free on $750,000 bond, had a gun with him when he sneaked into the residence at 3 a.m. on Feb. 18, prosecutors said.
Lemon's brother Eric Morse was thrown out of the Chicago Housing Authority building by two boys who were apparently angry at Eric because he wouldn't steal candy for them. Lemon suffered from nightmares and extreme feelings of insecurity after watching his inseparable brother die, fellow CHA residents said at the time. A fund was established to pay for his long-term counseling needs, and officials at the Doolittle School gave him a plaque declaring him "the Little Hero."
During the trial of Eric's killers, Lemon said he couldn't save Eric because one of the boys bit him when he tried to grab his sibling's dangling body. "I let him go, and [the older boy] still had him, and he let him go, and he fell," Lemon had testified."
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Now, for those of you who don't know the story of Ryan Harris and one of the stupidest arrest in Chicago history and an update,courtesy of a July 6th CHICAGO BREAKING NEWS article (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/07/boy-held-in-1998-ryan-harris-slaying-convicted-of-attempted-murder.html):"
"When Romarr Gipson was just 7 years old he and another boy were the youngest people in the country to be charged with murder.
While he and the other boy were later exonerated of the 1998 murder of Ryan Harris and he was awarded $2 million in a settlement with Chicago officials, Gipson was convicted today by a judge for attempted murder in a separate case.
Gipson, now 19, along with attempted murder, was also convicted of aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm into a vehicle following a bench trial at the Markham courthouse, said Andrew Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Cook County Judge Brian K. Flaherty convicted Gipson in a bench trial. Gipson is expected to be sentenced on Aug. 18, Conklin said. Gipson faces six to 30 years in state prison.
Gipson's conviction stems from a 2006 double shooting in south suburban Calumet Park where he was charged as an adult along with his stepbrother, Roman Foreman.
Gipson and Foreman were caught on video surveillance as they approached a parked car at a gas station, then opened fire with handguns, police said. Both men had guns, but Gipson's gun jammed. One of the victims was on a breathing machine as a result of the shooting.
The shooting stemmed from an incident that occurred involving a female in Chicago, officials said.
In 2008 Gipson was arrested on charges of drug possession, aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon and resisting arrest, according to court records. He was also charged in June with aggravated battery to an officer, according to court records. Those cases are pending, according to court records.
In 1998, Gipson, then 7, and another boy, then 8, were accused in the murder of 11-year-old Ryan Harris, making them the youngest murder suspects in the nation at the time.
The girl's body was found in a vacant lot on the South Side. It took almost a month before they were cleared in the killing after tests showed semen on the girl's clothing that could not have come from the children.
DNA tests later led prosecutors to charge Floyd Durr, a convicted sex offender, who pleaded guilty to the girl's murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
A lawsuit filed by Gipson's family against the city of Chicago was settled for $2 million. The other boy received a $6.2 million settlement."
WORLD for a change, I have nothing left to say except we simply MUST do better than this!!!!!
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