3 Teens Charged with Murder; Authorities Say Video of Crime on Facebook Wall Led to Arrests
Three Chicago teenagers have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 62-year-old father of 12 who reportedly was out collecting metal cans in an alley near his West Rogers Park home to help support his family at about 5 a.m. last week when he was attacked.
Authorities said Malik Jones, 16, gave his cellphone to one of the other suspects, who used the device Tuesday to take a video of Jones as he punched Delfino Mora in the jaw, knocking Mora down onto the concrete alley, where he hit his head with an audible crack. The video was later posted on a Facebook page for Jones, eventually making its way to a co-worker of one of Mora’s sons and police, according to the Chicago Tribune. An earlier version of the same Chicago Tribune story provides additional details.
Jones was arrested Saturday, with the cellphone, and charged as an adult with first-degree murder. Prosecutors said police got a search warrant and obtained the video, the newspaper reports.
Relying on information from prosecutors, CBS Chicago says an unidentified victim in an apparently unrelated June 30 incident saw the video, recognized Jones from the earlier incident and contacted police, indicating that this was what led to the arrest of Jones.
Two other suspects allegedly involved in the attack, Nicholas Ayala, 17, and Anthony Malcolm, 18, were charged with robbery and first-degree murder, the Tribune reports.
Mora was found lying in the alley several hours after he was attacked Tuesday, and he died at a suburban Chicago hospital the next day.
The Chicago Sun-Times says this is at least the third time in a year that a video of a Chicago attack resulted in the arrest of one or more teens.
