Motive A Mystery As 12-Year-Old Boy Clings To Life

JOLIET, Ill. (WBBM/STMW) - A 12-year-old is being kept alive on a ventilator after his father allegedly shot him in the head Monday night. Investigators are still left asking why it happened.

Roderick D. Tademy, 35, is jailed on charges of aggravated battery with a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon and unauthorized possession of a firearm in connection with his son's shooting.

12-year-old Obadiah Tademy remains in grave condition at Loyola University Medical Center, in Maywood.

The question that confronts Police Chief Fred Hayes and detectives is why -- what could have led 36-year-old Roderick Tademy to shoot his son.

"The wife, Antoinetta Tademy, indicated to officers that the 12-year-old boy and her husband were having some type of argument when her husband suddenly pulled out a handgun and shot the 12-year-old boy in the head," Hayes said.

Antoinetta Tademy took the .22-caliber handgun from her husband after the shooting.

Police carrying a search warrant returned to the apartment a short time later and recovered three other weapons -- an AK47, a Tech-9 semi-automatic machine gun and a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun.

Hayes said Tademy did not have a firearm owners' identification card, so in addition to the charge of aggravated battery with a firearm stemming from the shooting, he also faces weapons charges.

The couple's twin six-year-old daughters were also in the apartment, and Hayes indicated that they may have seen the shooting. They are now in the custody of child welfare officials and receiving counseling.

Antoinetta Tademy called 911. The responding officers found Roderick Tademy in the rear of the family's apartment, on the 1200 block of Cutter Av., in Joliet, and he gave himself up without offering resistance.

Paramedics rushed the boy to Silver Cross Hospital, in Joliet. He was later airlifted to Loyola.

Hayes said more serious charges could be approved by prosecutors once interviews are complete.

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