Two Chicago men charged in connection with a 15-year-old girl's shooting death were ordered held without bond Tuesday.
Michael Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20, were both charged with first-degree murder in the death of Hadiya Pendleton, the honors student who attended President Barack Obama's second inaugural just days before her death.
Ward, of the 300 block of West 59th Street, and Williams, of the 3900 block of South Lake Park Avenue, also were each charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery and discharge of a firearm.
They appeared in court for the first time Tuesday. Prosecutors said Ward gave a videotaped statement to police admitting to driving his mother's white Nissan that day to the park. He said Pendleton "had nothing to do with it" and "she was just there."
Chicago police Supt. Garry McCarthy on Monday also said Ward confessed to being the shooter, telling police that Pendleton was not his intended target.
"In fact, the offenders had it all wrong," said McCarthy. "They thought the group they shot into included members of a rival gang. Instead, it was a group of upstanding and determined kids, who, like Hadiya, were repulsed by the gang lifestyle."
The superintendent said the shooting was in retaliation for a shooting last July that left Williams injured.
Pendleton's parents, in Washington, D.C., to attend the president's State of the Union address Tuesday, vowed promised to follow the case every step of the way.
