A judge on Thursday denied a request to allow a teen suspect charged in the shooting of a 6-year-old girl on Chicago’s Northwest Side to be released on electronic home monitoring.
The 17-year-old alleged gang member appeared in juvenile court after he was accused of driving the car used in a drive-by shooting that left 6-year-old Jaylene Bermeo in critical condition Monday.
Cook County prosecutors said Jaylene was playing with her siblings and cousins, drawing with chalk on the sidewalk in the 2100 block of North Bingham in the Logan Square neighborhood, when someone inside a vehicle fired 12 times in the children’s direction. One of the bullets hit Jaylene, puncturing her lung.
Authorities say the bullet is still lodged in the young girl’s chest, but narrowly missed her heart.
Hospital officials released a statement Thursday saying she is now in “good condition and good spirits.”
"She has a long but promising road to recovery ahead of her," Stroger Hospital said in a statement. "We hope to discharge her in a few days."
The teen was arrested and charged Wednesday with aggravated battery with a firearm and illegal discharge of a firearm. Prosecutors also say he has a record, with seven arrests over the past 2 years from reckless conduct, to drugs, to possession of a stolen car.
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A judge denied his attorney's request for electronic home monitoring, saying the teen's conduct facilitated the shooting of a child.
“Whoever was the shooter, had anything to do with it, whatever, I’m sure they had no intention of striking someone like that,” said the teen’s attorney Kevin McCubbin.
Prosecutors say multiple pedestrians who were near the 2100 Block of North Bingham in Logan Square all identified the teenager as the driver.
As of Thursday, the teenage boy will not be charged as an adult, but will remain at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center until his next appearance in juvenile court July 12.
