Margaret Matthews (CBS)
ARTICLE: Gun-Wielding Senior Margaret Matthews Speaks
CHICAGO (CBS) – A 12-year-old boy who was shot by an elderly South Shore homeowner after he allegedly threw bricks at her is in psychiatric care, recovering from the trauma of being shot, his mother said Tuesday.
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The boy did not appear in juvenile court along side his alleged 13-year-old accomplice Tuesday morning because he has been in the hospital since Oct. 3. That is less than a week after he was shot in the shoulder outside the woman’s home on the 7600 block of South Cole September 28, his mother told Judge Andrew Berman.
“You’re gonna have vigilantes all over the city taking matters into their own hands,’’ the boy’s mother said after the hearing. “A 12-year-old boy getting shot? Wouldn’t you be traumatized?’’
Berman ordered the 13-year-old accomplice not to have any contact with Margaret Matthews, 68, who shot his friend.
Both boys are charged with aggravated assault; Matthews has not been charged.
The boys had terrorized the woman and the neighborhood for months before she finally snapped and shot the boy, neighbors said at the time.
“That boy terrorized this neighborhood,” resident Ronald Hunt said.
The alleged accomplice, who stood well below five-feet tall and wore a white polo shirt in front of the judge, spoke softly when confirming his identity and saying his only contact with his father is by phone.
His mother told the judge the boy’s father does not support the family financially.
A trial date was set for November 18.
13 Comments
Good for her!
October 19, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Boo hooo. Where was mommy when her son was terrorizing the neighborhood? He should have received psychiatric help BEFORE he got shot; but good old fashioned upbringing would have accomplished the same thing. Good for the 68 year old that shot him in self defense. If he killed her, what would mommy say then??? Put him away so he can’t harm anyone again; he deserves jail time even at 12. He knew what he was doing and now he should pay the piper to teach these young thugs a lesson – you do the crime, you WILL do the time. PERIOD.
October 19, 2010 at 5:40 pm
I love you for your comment.
October 19, 2010 at 5:45 pm
That kid knew exactly what he was doing. Twelve is not 2! The woman has my support!
October 19, 2010 at 5:41 pm
who is paying for the treatment at the hospital? Sound very expensive to me. Taxpayers?
October 19, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Good for the little Thug!!! Maybe Mama should know what her son has been up to!! Oh, but wait, that would be asking too much! Sounds like Mama is looking for a lawsuit to me, but who is she going to sue?
God Bless the Lady who shot him, its about time we start taking back the streets, since our beloved Mayor and the Police Department can’t!!
October 19, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Right on, Annie P. Sounds like Momma and kid should have gotten psychiatric treatment a long time ago.
October 19, 2010 at 6:18 pm
Cry me a River !!! Shouldn’t have been throwings rock at an elderly person. Serves you right !!!!
October 19, 2010 at 6:35 pm
That’s throwing rocks ! I can’t type ! LOL
October 19, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Annie P: The Mama can go ahead and sue herself. She is a poor excuse for a parent. I think the mama should be charged for the crime as well. I hope this kid gets his life together,
October 19, 2010 at 6:37 pm
GRAND MA FOR MAYOR
October 19, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Yayyy for grandma but wit aside I actually think if done right by the therapists this may be the best thing to happen to this kid.. Growing up and living on the West Side I have to many kids like this grow up and end up dead or in jail and for some reason they have not grasped the concept of how ridiculous that lifestyle is for them .Usually what happens is with the solitude found in jail their mind has time to think rationally as odd as that may sound . But his life was spared and hopefully this kid can turn it around. I can’t just throw him under the bus but if he doesn’t change his way of thinking then the next bullet or bullets he will receive (and trust me if he keeps this up being shot again will happen) will take his life . But again yayyyy grandma I love you for standing up
December 20, 2010 at 4:32 am
I have been following this story since it broke and just to clarify things, the kid had just broke a large front room window which the 85 year old woman was standing by with a brick, not a rock, and was holding another apparently getting ready for the coup de gras when out of shear terror for her life the woman shot him. The kid had been targeting this woman in his reign of neighborhood misdeeds and had recently set her grill, which sets next to her home, on fire. He is feared and loathed throughout the neighborhood and, for everyone’s safety, probably should not be placed back with his parents until they too have counciling. These people haven’t a clue and don’t want to know what kind of criminal, possible future killer, they are responsible for. Notice I didn’t say raised. This should not be a forgotten child case where he gets put back on the street after minimal examination only to be picked up later for a double homicide. Put him in treatment and keep him away from the public until he is working out his problems and has a better chance to live a sane life.
December 26, 2010 at 11:39 am