Woman, 2 Daughters Shot While Trying to Buy Cell Phones

Police say men tried to rob family as they sat in a car

An Addison, Illinois mother and her two young daughters had traveled to Indiana to buy cell phones from a man they found on Facebook when they were shot Sunday, according a court affidavit.

Two men were charged Wednesday in the Hammond shooting. Alan Lavelle Ross, Jr., 17, and Joseph Alonzo Pleasure, 20, are each charged with multiple counts of attempted murder, attempted robbery resulting in bodily injury, aggravated battery, attempted armed robbery and battery resulting in serious bodily injury.

The 41-year-old woman and her 12- and 15-year-old daughters were shot while sitting in an alley close to Morris Avenue and Calumet Street at about 11 a.m.

The woman drove to Hammond to purchase cell phones from a person she had communicated with on Facebook named “Cashin Out Joe,” according to the affidavit.

The person on Facebook advised her to pull into an alley, but when the woman saw two men walking up behind her vehicle she started to pull away, according to the affidavit.

One man shouted, “Stop, I have your phone,” police said. The second man appeared next to her car and demanded her money before shooting at her, then walking to the other side of the car to shoot at her daughters.

The woman drove away to look for help after the shooting, according to the affidavit.

The two girls were taken to University of Chicago hospital in critical condition, police said. The mother was taken to a local hospital with injuries that weren’t life-threatening. As of Wednesday afternoon, all three were still recovering from their injuries, police said.

Police tracked Pleasure down through his Facebook account under the name “Cashin Out Jo,” according to the affidavit.

The woman later identified Ross in a photograph as the shooter, and Pleasure as the other suspect, the affidavit said.

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