An argument between two teen boys over a girl started on a social networking Web site and ended with one of the boys "brain dead" after he was mowed over in a mall parking lot in Niles over the weekend.
The family of Edgardo De La Torre on Wednesday night signed papers permitting the removal of life support once recipients for his organs could be scheduled by the hospital, Niles Police Sgt. Tom Davis said.
De La Torre's 16th birthday was Tuesday.
De La Torre, a sophomore at Maine East High School, was with his younger brother and five other teens Saturday evening when he was hit by a car driven by a 16-year-old boy at about 40 MPH.
"He (the 16-year-old driver) accelerated and basically ran this kid down," Davis said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
De La Torre suffered severe head injuries and was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
The car had been stolen from a Niles resident on Nov. 4 and was found by police abandoned a few blocks from the mall.
Though police believe the teens are affiliated with gangs, they said the incident itself didn't seem to be gang-related.
"It's my understanding there was a dispute over a girl on a Web site and that is the reason he attacked him," Davis said. "Things were said online that caused him to go after this teen."
Davis said he wasn't sure on which site the teens quarrelled or the time frame of the argument. De La Torre's sister, Marisol, said she believed the argument began on MySpace.
Marisol De La Torre said the suspect dated a girl about three years ago. Her brother then dated the same girl for about two years before breaking up several months ago.
She denies her brother was a part of a gang.
The teen driver was arrested Monday and charged as a juvenile. After the medical examiner conducts an autopsy and determines cause of death, authorities are expected to upgrade charges to murder, Davis said.
