A mother just doesn’t understand how words exchanged on Facebook, could lead to her son’s murder. Regina Waldroup reports.
A south suburban Flossmoor man was ordered held without bail Tuesday in connection with the shooting death of two teens on Chicago's South Side Saturday, the result of a Facebook dispute over a phone cord, the mother of one of the victims told NBC 5.
Justin Hamilton, 23, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly shooting and killing 16-year-old Jordan Means and 18-year-old Anthony Bankhead.
A prosecutor said Hamilton is a member of the Latin Kings street gang.
Means and Bankhead were found dead just after 10:30 a.m. in an apartment in the 8200 block of South Houston Avenue on the South Side, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy revealed they were both shot in the head.
Means' mother, Camille Cochran, said the incident stemmed from an dispute that played out on online. Cochran said Hamilton and her son, a sophomore at James H Bowen High School, argued early Friday about a cell phone cord. That argument later spilled over to a Facebook chat, she said.
"An argument led to this, that’s crazy," the 42-year-old mother said. "Now, I don’t have my son no more."
Mr. Hamilton inboxed Jordan from what I was told, and called him some type of lame. So him and Jordan got to arguing on Facebook."
Cochran said she knows Hamilton and said her son looked up to him. She said said she's shared everything she knows with police.
Authorities did not confirm the details she provided.
According to the medical examiner’s office, Bankhead lived in the home he was killed in, and
Means lived fewer than two blocks away. They were among nine people who were shot to death during an especially violent Easter weekend.
Authorities said there is another person involved with the case with whom they'd like to speak.
An account was created on GoFundMe.com to collect donations to help pay for Means' funeral and burial.
