A 16-year-old boy turned himself in and was charged with murder in the fatal shooting of retired Chicago police officer Larry Neuman, police announced Monday.
Authorities said they were still searching for a second suspect in Neuman’s killing Thursday morning near his Garfield Park home. The boy, whose name was not released Monday, was charged as an adult with first-degree murder and will appear in court Tuesday, Chicago police said.
Police Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti said 73-year-old Neuman had been outside his home to pay someone to mow the lawn when he saw two people approaching. Neuman pushed the other person aside and exchanged fire with the two suspects, who shot him multiple times.
Ursitti said the department has received “an abundant amount of information” from neighbors and former residents of the area and that a community member accompanied the teen when he turned himself in. She did not elaborate on the relationship between the suspect and the community member.
During the investigation, a detective recognized the suspect from a previous arrest, Ursitti said.
Police Chief Larry Snelling called Neuman’s killing a “brazen and senseless act of violence” and said Neuman would have done “anything he could” to help a teenager at risk of becoming involved in violent crimes.
“Larry’s life was taken by the very people he dedicated his life to helping,” he said.
Neuman served in the U.S. Marines, retired as the police department’s longest-serving explosives technician and spoke out as a preacher against violent crime after leaving the department, Snelling said.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx noted that Monday’s news conference was the second in a week in which charges against a minor were announced. Officials on Friday charged 16-year-old Raysean Comer with murder in the fatal shooting of 7-year-old Jai’Mani Amir Rivera. Comer appeared in court Saturday for a detention hearing and will be tried as an adult.
Foxx said that although Neuman was retired and the other victim was a young boy, “the common thread is that other children take their own lives.”
Snelling called for “an accountability factor” and implored Chicagoans to intervene with children who become involved in illegal activities.
“Today’s armed robber, who is 13, 14 years old, is tomorrow’s murderer, at the age of 15 or 16,” he said. “If we don’t act now, we will announce murder charges against a 16-year-old.”
Snelling also said he attended a memorial event for Neuman on Sunday and saw how much respect Neuman had earned in the Garfield Park area.
“He was a hero in that community,” he said. “He was loved in that community. He was a person to be proud of.”
