Two Teens Charged in Fatal Shootings of Five Family Members in Illinois
Two teenagers were charged with murder on Tuesday for the killings of five members of an Illinois family in a series of shootings. A 16-year-old boy will be tried as an adult, while a 15-year-old girl's case starts in juvenile court.
On Tuesday, authorities in Illinois filed murder charges against two teenagers in connection with the fatal shootings of five family members across three different locations.
The 16-year-old boy will be prosecuted as an adult, while the case against the 15-year-old girl will begin in juvenile court with the possibility of being transferred to St. Clair County Criminal Court, the county prosecutor's office said.
Police described the incident as a "targeted mass shooting" that primarily occurred on Sunday in East St. Louis, an Illinois city across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. Five people were killed and two others wounded. Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly stated that troopers stopped a vehicle and arrested the teens on Sunday in a state park.
Court documents do not reveal a motive. However, Marcus May, the father of the 15-year-old, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that his daughter was upset with family members and plotted the attacks with her boyfriend, Ja'ymeir Davis.
May said he lost a nephew, two stepchildren, his mother, and a sister. The victims were aged 74, 49, 25, 24, and 21.
Davis was charged with murder and seven other offenses. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney who could comment. A court hearing is pending.
The shootings mostly occurred over the weekend, but one victim, Cherie May, Marcus May's sister, was shot days earlier, according to a court filing.
