The murder of Hadiya Pendleton occurred on January 29, 2013. Pendleton, a 15-year-old girl from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, was shot in the back and killed while standing with friends inside Harsh Park in Kenwood, Chicago after taking her final exams. As a student at

King College Prep High School Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. College Preparatory High School (commonly known as King College Prep or locally as King) is a public 4-year selective enrollment magnet high school located in the Kenwood neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illi ...

, she was killed only one week after performing at events for President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. First Lady Michelle Obama attended the funeral for Pendleton in Chicago.

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

mentioned Pendleton's death in his

2013 State of the Union Address The 2013 State of the Union Address was given by the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, on February 12, 2013, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 113th United States Congress. It ...

in Congress, where Pendleton's parents, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton and Nathaniel A. Pendleton Sr., attended as guests. The crime scene is "just a mile away from resident Obama'sChicago house". Pendleton's mother, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, went onstage but did not speak at the

2016 Democratic National Convention The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majo ...

Legal proceedings

Two suspects, Micheail Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20, were arrested and

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of ...

with multiple counts of

first degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

, attempted murder, aggravated discharge of a

weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

and many other charges. They told police that Pendleton was not the intended target. The group she was standing with was mistaken for members of a rival

gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

. A judge denied

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

for the two gang members. At the time of the shooting, Ward, the gunman, was on probation. In January 2012, he pleaded guilty to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and was sentenced to two years of probation. Less than three months later, he was arrested and charged with breaking into a car. In July 2012, he was arrested for breaking into a different vehicle. In November 2012, he was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing. During his youth, he had also been arrested numerous times on charges ranging from robbery to battery to marijuana possession, and had spent time on juvenile probation. Ward and Williams were each charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated battery with a firearm. The trial started on August 14, 2018. On August 22, 2018, a jury found Williams guilty of first degree murder of Pendleton. Williams was also found guilty of aggravated battery to her friends, Sebastian Moore and Lawrence Sellers. On August 23, 2018, a jury found Ward guilty of first degree murder in the death of Pendleton. Ward was sentenced to 84 years in prison on January 14, 2019. On July 20, 2021, Williams was sentenced to 42 years in prison, 35 for the murder and seven for the aggravated battery.

Legacy

In the song "Jonylah Forever", rapper Lupe Fiasco presents an alternate reality in which Jonylah Watkins, who was murdered at the age of six months in Chicago in 2013, grows up to be a doctor and meets Hadiya Pendleton, who has become an artist. The song is featured on the album ''

Drogas Wave ''Drogas Wave'' (stylized as ''DROGAS Wave'') is the seventh studio album by American hip hop music, hip hop recording artist Lupe Fiasco, released by 1st and 15th Productions and Thirty Tigers on September 21, 2018. This album is a follow-up to h ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pendleton, Hadiya Deaths by firearm in Illinois Deaths by person in Illinois 2013 in Illinois 2010s in Chicago Crimes in Chicago Murdered American students

Legal proceedings

Legacy

See also

References