Teen Admits to Killing Former CLTV Host's Parents

Bodies of Garrard McClendon's parents were found in a forest preserve about a year ago

One of two teens charged in the shooting deaths of a former Chicago television host's parents pleaded guilty on Thursday.

Gregory Brooks Jr, 19, had been charged with murder, burglary and robbery, among others, in the deaths of Ruby McClendon, 76, and Milton McClendon, 78, the parents of former CLTV host Garrard McClendon, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Another suspect, 18-year-old Reo Jonta Thompson, is expected to appear in court next week on similar charges.

The bodies of McClendon's parents were found nearly a year ago by a woman walking in the Wentworth Woods Forest Preserve near Calumet City.  They'd both been shot.

The couples' Cadillac was found abandoned on the Dan Ryan Expressway two days later.  Witnesses said they saw two men running away from the car.

Garrard McClendon was let go from the Tribune Company, which owns CLTV, last month.  Two detectives who worked on the McClendon case were later named "Officers of the Year" by Lake County, Ind., authorities.

Brooks is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 10.
 

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