Derrion Albert, One Year Later

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 23, 2010 5:50PM

It was a heinous act of violence, one captured on video, shown around the county (and the world), and one that was sadly symbolic of the violence Chicago Public School students are facing. Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the beating death of Fenger High student Derrion Albert, an innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time, pulled into a brawl between two factions of students: those already attending Fenger and students newly bused in from Altgeld Gardens, two groups that had been stuck in an ongoing cycle of violence.

This week, students at Fenger are honoring Albert with t-shirts and a peace rally, honoring Derrion and the dozens of other CPS students killed in recent years. Fenger principal Elizabeth Dozier addressed the act and defended the school, saying, "I think that we were characterized in a certain way because of a violent incident. Unfortunately, issues like this are not unique to our school, not even to really our city, but they happen across the country, and so I think what is important to keep in mind that Fenger high school is a great school with great students who are doing some really awesome things." Five students were charged with Derrion's murder and are still awaiting trial. The next court date, according to Fox Chicago, is Monday October 4.