Results tagged “kiyannasalters”

Between now and Wednesday, we're counting down the top 8 local stories that captivated us in 2008.

Milton Wardlaw, charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Kiyanna Salters, has been denied bail at a hearing this morning.

Milton Wardlaw, the young man who turned himself in to authorities in connection to the shooting of 17-year-old Kiyanna Salters aboard a CTA bus Sunday, has officially been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle. Wardlaw will attend a bail hearing today. He has previous convictions for drugs and weapons charges, and, while admitting he was on the bus and involved in an argument with another passenger, has claimed he was unarmed and did none of the shooting.

Answering pleas from his mother, Milton Wardlaw (pictured right) turned himself in and declared his innocence in Sunday's shooting death of 17-year-old Kiyanna Salters aboard a CTA bus. Wardlaw joined his family at Evening Star Missionary Baptist Church and was later escorted away by police. While police did not confirm that Wardlaw was the man on the surveillance tape, they did say they had a suspect in custody. Not to mention Wardlaw's own words:

We had an argument, dude pulled a gun on me and he basically escorted me off the bus with the gun. This should also be on camera. He escorted me off the bus with the gun. I'm like, 'Man, just don't shoot me in the back, please don't shoot me.' He cussed at me, like 'M-F'er, run' so I took off. I was running. I heard shots and I kept on running."

He later added, ""I don't have any gun to fire. I'm innocent." Wardlaw is currently on probation for previous drug and weapons convictions. While police say eyewitness testimony as well as the surveillance footage points to Wardlaw as the shooter, Wardlaw and his family did have a valid point when they asked about the police's pursuit of the other man involved in the incident. Sonja Wilcox, Kiyanna's aunt and mother of the girl who was with Kiyanna on the bus when the incident occurred, said, "The evidence will show who's telling the truth and who's lying. I'm just glad he turned himself in. And now we can go on and do what we have to do to bury Kiyanna."

The man accused of shooting 17-year-old Kiyanna Salters onboard a CTA bus Sunday night has been identified by family members thanks to surveillance footage from the bus even as police had already identified the man. While media reports aren't naming the man since he has yet to be officially charged with anything, the reports identified his mother as Patricia Wilson. She told the Trib, "I want my son to turn himself in. I want him to be safe, and I don't want him to be hurt in the streets." She also directly addressed her son, telling him, "Please baby, do the right thing. I don't want anything, anything at all to happen to you."

Police have revealed more information on Sunday night's CTA shooting that left an innocent 17-year-old dead. Kiyanna Salter was sitting with her cousin, Jasmine Wilcox, on the No. 71 bus Sunday, talking to a man on the bus the two had just met. At that point, another man accidentally touched the man's hand hand as he was exiting the bus. And that's all it took. The two men argued briefly and both flashed guns in an apparent (and now traditional) show of machismo. As the man exiting the bus finally got off, he turned and fired into the bus. But instead of striking his intended target, the bullets hit Kiyanna, killing her instantly. Jasmine said, "I didn't know it was her who got shot until they said somebody got shot. I happened to look up, and it was just her laying there. I just went to her and grabbed her hand. I just grabbed her hand."

Kiyanna Salters, 17, was killed in a shooting on a No. 71 bus Sunday night. The incident happened around 10 p.m. as the bus approached the intersection of Cottage Grove and 71st Street. A man on the bus got into an argument with another passenger before exiting the bus. Shortly after exiting the bus, the man opened fire into the bus before fleeing the scene. Kiyanna was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead shortly after 10:30 p.m. She was a student at Julian High School, the same school that Blair Holt, the 16-year-old shot onboard a CTA bus in May 2007, attended. Police still are not sure whether or not Kiyanna was the intended target.