Fam Above is a video of an event that is happening in our community EVERYDAY by our youth. The victims Family has requested this video shown to hopefully be a catalyst to a REAL stop the violence movement.. Any thoughts??Fenger High School melee: Police presence to be stepped up on first open day since fatal beating
Teen's close-range video helps in investigation of honor roll student Derrion Albert's death
By Kristen Mack
Tribune reporter
September 28, 2009
Chicago police geared up to provide extra security at Fenger High School on Monday as they reviewed a graphic amateur video showing a student beaten to death with wooden two-by-fours.
The nearly three-minute video, shot by a girl who attends Fenger, captured the gruesome melee as it unfolded. Derrion Albert, 16, is seen being struck then stumbling to the ground; teenagers then continued to viciously punch, kick and strike him with the wooden boards. The additional evidence is aiding the investigation, Chicago police said.
Derrion's family was squeamish about watching the footage and not all of them were able to make it through. But they said they don't have a problem with people viewing it as long as it helps identify who beat Derrion to death.
"It hurt to watch," said LaTonia Williams, Derrion's aunt. "It's one thing to hear about it and come up with your own theory of what happened. To see it is another thing. It gave us a real clear picture of what happened. That video was crucial."
Some parents and students have expressed reservations about returning to Fenger on Monday. It is the first time Fenger will be open since Thursday, when brewing gang rivalries that started at school spilled onto the streets of the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago's Far South Side.
"Word is there will be more violence at the school on Monday. Don't think this is going to end," said the Rev. Victor Grandberry, community representative for the local school council, who said some parents will withdraw their students from Fenger on Monday.
Police said they are increasing their presence at and around Fenger to ease fears students and their parents may have about safety, Morgan Park District Cmdr. Mike Kuemmeth said. The beefed-up security will remain until the public perception that the school is dangerous decreases, he said.
In an effort to curtail the violence, several community groups plan to hold a vigil at the school Monday afternoon.
On Friday, a teen girl, who asked the family not to identify her because she fears retaliation, showed the video to Derrion's family before handing it over to police and WFLD-Channel 32, the local Fox station, said Eunice Cross, the grandmother of Derrion's half-sister. The vivid images were captured from the middle of the brawl. The footage the girl shot provided an additional vantage point to video from a surveillance camera atop the Agape Community Center, 342 W. 111th St., next to a vacant lot where dozens of boys converged Thursday afternoon.
Detectives reviewed the tape Friday evening and said they appreciate the new evidence.
"We are pursuing interviews with a number of people of interest," Police Officer Gabrielle Lesniak, said.
Three people older than 17 and a juvenile are being questioned in connection with the attack, a law enforcement source said Sunday.
Police have identified several people from the video, police spokesman Roderick Drew said.
Fox Chicago was approached Friday by the female student's brother with a copy of the video, said Carol Fowler, the station's news director. It held off on airing the tape for 24 hours at the request of police, who wanted more time to find suspects. Fox paid its typical freelance fee of about $300 to obtain the tape exclusively, Fowler said. "The principal reason we decided to air the video was because it communicated in a powerful way the danger these kids face getting to and from school every day," Fowler said.
Joseph Walker, Derrion's grandfather, said he could not bear to watch the recording. "The graphics are too strong for me," he said. "God bless whoever took that video. It did and said it all."
Witnesses and police said Derrion, an honor roll student, was swept into the altercation. The first officers who arrived on the scene waited until backup arrived before they broke up the sprawling fight, witnesses said.
Tribune reporter Kristen Schorsch contributed to this report. kmack@tribune.com
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