Murder case dropped against Chicago boys, 7 and 8, charged in 11-year-old's death

Jet, Sept 21, 1998

Prosecutors recently dropped their murder case against two 7- and 8-year-old Chicago boys who police said confessed to attacking an 11-year old girl riding her bicycle in their neighborhood (JET, Aug. 31).

A crime laboratory report issued to prosecutors showed the presence of semen in the underpants of 11-year-old Ryan Harris. Police crime experts said it's highly unlikely that boys so young could produce semen.

The charge was dropped at a brief court hearing at which the new evidence was presented. Prosecutors gave few details.

Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine said in a statement: "Based upon our review of that evidence and in the interest of justice, we met our obligations as prosecutors and dismissed charges against the boys.

"The investigation into the murder of Ryan Harris remains open," he said. "Further tests must be conducted on the forensic evidence."

Because of the boys' ages, their being charged in the death of Ryan Harris generated widespread publicity. She was reported missing July 27, and her body was found the next day in a weed patch in the impoverished neighborhood of Englewood on Chicago's South Side.

She had been struck in the head, sexually molested and suffocated. Her underpants were stuffed in her mouth and grass and leaves were found in her nostrils.

Police had said the boys confessed to the attack. Prosecutors said the boys wanted the bicycle the girl was riding, and the 7-year-old knocked her off it by hitting Ryan in the head with a rock.

At a recent news conference, defense attorneys said they believe the boys were pressured into confessing. They also said race was a factor--the boys are Black as was the victim.

"This wouldn't happen in Winnetka (an affluent White suburb of Chicago)," said Catherine Ferguson, the 7-year-old's attorney.

"People would be appalled, but in Englewood, they are used to being treated in this manner," she added.

Noted attorney R. Eugene Pincham Sr., who represents the 8-year-old, said: "I'm appalled; it's frightening, really, that if a police officer would do this to children, what would he do to me?"

Pincham, who is a retired judge, added that he hopes there is an internal investigation into how the detectives questioned the children.

Police denied wrongdoing.

Chicago Police Superintendent Terry Hillard said, "There has been no, I repeat no, misconduct on the part of any member of the Chicago Police Department, nor would I condone any such actions concerning this or any other case."

Hillard added, "The police department must be concerned with the facts. The detectives confronted with this tragedy behaved in a professional manner, complying with the letter and the spirit of the law."

Defense attorneys had hoped to convince a Juvenile Court judge that the boys were the innocent victims of a police frame-up. They contended details in an autopsy report point to a "freak pedophile" as the real killer.

The boys were required to wear electronic monitoring bracelets so that court officials could keep tabs on them pending trial. But a later ruling removed those bracelets, instead requiring 24-hour adult supervision by the boys' families.

Neighbors described the 8-year-old as an honor student who is so shy that he rarely left his yard.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, the 7-year-old's mother said her son wins attendance awards at school, picks up in the yard and likes to snack on honey buns.

"I look at him, and I don't see a murderer," the woman said through sobs. "I see my baby. He is my baby."