Another teenager has been charged in the brutal death of Alex Arellano, 15, whose burned body was found earlier this month.
Arellano was beaten, shot and set on fire on the city's Southwest Side on May 1, 2009. His burned body was found in a gangway. He was not in a gang.
Two people have now been charged in the case. One of them appeared in court on Thursday.Jovanny Martinez, 15, -- who was arrested on a weapons charge the same night Arellano was murdered-- was denied bail at a court hearing on Thursday. He is accused of shooting Arellano in the head and police say a ballistics test shows Martinez's gun was used in the murder.
The second young man arrested is Edgar Silva, 18, who a faces first-degree murder charges in the case.
The ABC video describes the chilling details of the murder and the senseless violence that is daily fare in the world of urban gangs. It's a sad and complicated business that seems to have no easy answer. The only thing I can think of is less guns and less violence, and that includes the so-called defensive kind. The exploding proliferation of guns in America, legal guns, is directly contributing to this mentality, as well as feeding into the gun flow. The more we increase the one, the more we exacerbate any efforts at curbing this type of behaviour.
What's your opinion? Do you feel that gang violence in Chicago has nothing to do with the rest of us? Is it like that famous line from The Godfather, "They're animals anyway, so let them lose their souls?"
Should these bad boys be tried as adults? Does it sometimes seem like we need a third category, as if the sentencing guidelines for juveniles are too light and those for adults are too heavy?
Please feel free to leave a comment.
And now it would appear it is time for me to leave this site.
ReplyDeleteNo, it is not due to your comment moderation, and no, it is not due to your inability to answer key questions.
Rather, it is completely due to your absolute and complete refusal to learn the meanings of words before you use them, and your further insistance that defensive firearm uses and/or law-abiding firearm owners are somehow contributing to or responsible for the actions of criminals and law-breakers.
The problem is not, nor has it ever been, the objects, just as automobiles and alcohol are not the causes of drunk driving. Rather, the problem is the people who consciously and individually choose to use those objects for illegal purposes - and given that those people make those choices of their own free will, and on their own recognizance, no one else can be held accountable for those choices. And strangely enough, what will solve that problem is enforcing the firearm laws we have (and we do have more than a few), and putting violators of those laws away for a very long time, rather than pushing them through the revolving door of the American judicial system...
Your continued perpetuation of the specious myth of shared responsibility for criminals' actions amounts to nothing more than reverse-trolling, and while I have been "encouraging" this behavior in the past with my responses, it is high time for that to end. Despite your claims to the contrary, you are not nor have ever been interested in actual debate... rather, all you are looking for is a forum to continue spreading your desires for a disarmed, defenseless American populace... all for the supposed sake of stopping crime, even though disarmaments never result in diminished crimes.
You will forgive me for not wanting to be party to such a pointless, bigoted, and reality-free conversation.
"The exploding proliferation of guns in America, legal guns, is directly contributing to this mentality, as well as feeding into the gun flow."
ReplyDeleteWhich explains why crime of all kinds is at levels equal to the late 1960's, right before 'gun control' became a political priority.
Maybe it has more to do w/ an education system w/ a 50% drop out rate, the denigration of the nuclear family in gang sub-cultures, a historically corrupt political system that really doesn't care about the ghetto's, and the popularization of violence against those who work w/ the police.
How many rap songs do you see that encourage families to stay together, treat women with respect, and to cooperate w/ authorities?
Dear Mike,
ReplyDeleteI am very disappointed that you would further the lifespan of a completely false "news story."
You see, the carrying of firearms and the mere possesion of a handgun in Chicago is illegal, so this tall tale you spin can not be true.
Chicago is an American Utopia, free from gun crime due to its strong laws against the 2nd Amendment. In chicago, everyone is safe and gumdrops fall from the heavens.
The fact that you would post this fallacy is most disturbing.
Chicago is like New York. You guys say these cities prove that gun control laws don't work, but exactly the opposite is true.
ReplyDeleteTracing the crime guns in New York showed that something like 90% came from out of state. When gun laws are strict, criminals have to arrange for their guns to be imported. This proves that the laws work. The only problem is the laws need to be nation-wide.
"This proves that the laws work. The only problem is the laws need to be nation-wide."
ReplyDeleteAnd how does that work? How's it working for mexico (where guns are illegal for anyone but police/military) Criminals can still get whatever they want.
look at the UK. Nationwide gun laws more strict than in NY, in a country that is an ISLAND, and criminals STILL have guns.