While gun violence may reach epidemic levels in the city, Chicago remains insulated from media coverage, in large part, because the city stands as a beacon to failed gun control efforts pushed by the left.
But, media coverage or not, the murders continue with little accountability. That too garners little notice, as it reflects poorly on the progressive criminal justice system, but Laura Ingraham held a town hall on Friday in the Windy City and the Fox News host pledged $5,000 to a reward fund to help locate the killer of a 15-year-old Chicago boy — her offering pushed the fund, which was created by the boy’s family, from $15,000 to $20,000.
That teen, Demetrius Griffin Jr., was found dead in a trash container in 2016 and an autopsy confirmed he was burned alive. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said Griffin died of “thermal injuries due to incendiary fire in garbage can.”
Ingraham featured Griffin’s mother, Polly Sykes, and his aunt, Rochelle Sykes, in a heart-wrenching segment, with the ladies sharing that after three years there are still no leads in bringing the killers to justice.
“One in six murders are solved in this city. One in six,” Ingraham stressed. “It’s the lowest solving murders rate in the country. The worst — it’s called clearance rate — in the country.”
Source: Fox News
When asked to respond, Rochelle Sykes said it makes her “feel horrible.”
“It makes me feel that we as a people don’t value life, don’t value children,” she said. “We don’t have any values anymore. Demetrius, the loving sweet kid. He was 96 lbs., he was [4 ft., 9 inches]. They burnt him beyond recognition. I had to get dental records to identify him. We were — we had no service, no way to say goodbye. We had to take him straight from the morgue to the grave. We had to have a memorial service.”
As gruesome as the death was, the community has been silent.
“It’s been three years, there hasn’t been any — nothing,” Rochelle Sykes said. “Nobody said anything, nobody has turned in anything. Nobody — nothing. We need to stop waiting until it hits our doorstep. We need to say something if we see something.”
Ingraham asked the grieving mother about the media coverage her son’s death draws in comparison to mass shootings and other atrocious events.
“Polly, you see a lot of coverage of other crimes around the United States and they’re serious. Whether they’re mass shootings in other states and other communities. Do you feel like [her son’s death] gets the coverage here in Chicago or other cities like it, St. Louis, Detroit, Oakland. Does it get the coverage? Is it acceptable to anyone?”
“No, it’s not acceptable to anyone,” Polly Sykes replied. “And no, I don’t feel like it has the right coverage of it — like you said, we need to stick together, we need to speak out. Violence is just the worst thing ever. These are our kids. They are important to us.”
Ingraham thanked the mother for appearing on the show.
“Thank you for being here. You almost didn’t come. We really, really appreciate it,” she said. “I never forgot Demetrius, not one day since last year. It’s a $15,000 reward?
Rochelle confirmed that the amount cited was correct.
“It’s $20,000 now,” Ingraham said with conviction.
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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