Man Whose Family Knew Laquan McDonald Says Teen Expressed Desire For New Start Hours Before Being Killed
(CBS) -- A man whose family knew Laquan McDonald says that in his final hours, the teen expressed a desire to make a new start.
Tavis Grant describes Laquan McDonald the way the teen's great uncle did -- as a big teddy bear who had made some bad choices and recognized that.
Grant says his father knew Laquan because the teen frequented his father's convenience store, in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood. He says his dad was trying to set Laquan straight, as he did with many teens.
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He says that on Oct. 20, 2014, hours before he died, Grant says Laquan seemed to have a plan.
"Laquan sat in my home with my parents talking about trying to get on the right track," Grant says. "(He was) talking about going back to school and trying to do some things differently."
Grant says Laquan told them he had already been in contact with a teacher and a school guidance counselor.
He says Mayor Emanuel must respond to the pain felt by many Chicagoans -- but says that "rhetoric without results would be disingenuous."
Grant supports calls for a special prosecutor, federal monitoring of the Chicago Police Department and termination of officers who have falsified reports on the McDonald shooting and other police-involved shootings.
"When we see people whoa re cut down the way Laquan was cut down, we just want change that leads to justice," he said.
