Should teen be tried as adult for Aurora carjacking that left woman paralyzed? Hearing under way
A teenager charged in a January 2021 Aurora carjacking that left a woman paralyzed was later asked in a video-recorded interview with police why he would commit such a crime.
"Basically, I'm the kind of person that doesn't like walking," the boy replied.
The video was among the evidence presented Wednesday during a hearing to determine whether the teen should remain in juvenile court or be tried as an adult on charges including attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, armed violence and aggravated vehicular hijacking.
The boy, who lived in Harvey, was 15 at the time of the Jan. 16, 2021, attack outside a fast-foot restaurant.
Authorities say the woman was sitting behind the wheel of her Hyundai, eating fries and a salad while listening to an audiobook and scrolling on her cellphone when the teen and three other suspects approached.
In an interview with police conducted at a trauma center after the shooting, the woman said she initially thought the person was looking for assistance or directions.
"My instinct was thinking the person needed help or was asking for money, and I was about to help," she told an Aurora police detective.
In a later interview, the woman said the person who shot her seemed nervous, scared and young.
After she was shot during a struggle with her assailants, the juvenile suspect and another person pulled the woman out of her vehicle and dumped her on the ground, authorities say. The four suspects then drove off in her car, according to police.
The bullet that struck the woman severed her spinal cord, leaving her paralyzed, Aurora Detective Christopher Cox testified.
Authorities allege the boy and three others had carjacked a man earlier that afternoon near Maple Park in DeKalb County, taking his Ford Escape. They abandoned the Escape at the fast-food restaurant in Aurora because it was running out of gas, according to police.
Police traced the Hyundai using tollway records and the car's Bluelink Connected Car Service to Harvey, Cox testified.
A tip from a relative of one of the four suspects also led them to the juvenile suspect, police say.
When the juvenile suspect was arrested, he told police the gun somehow fired because he was wearing large gloves, according to a video of his interview played in court.
He said the four suspects had been delivering a Dodge Charger that day to Rockford, but got in an accident. They then tried to take a pickup truck, unsuccessfully, before taking the Escape.
Cox said the Charger also had been stolen.
The hearing will continue Thursday. A doctor from the Kane County Diagnostic Center is expected to testify about the results of a psychological examination.