Witness positively identifies a suspect in shooting of Hadiya Pendleton

Leah Hope Image
Friday, August 17, 2018
Witness positively identifies Mickiael Ward in shooting of Hadiya Pendleton
Witness testimony continued in the third day of trial of two Chicago men charged with killing 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton in 2013.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- For the first time, a witness was able to positively identify one of the suspects during the third day of trial of two Chicago men charged with killing 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton.

Two reputed gang members, Kenneth Williams and Mickiael Ward, are accused of shooting into a group of teens at Harsh Park in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood in January 2013, killing Pendleton.

Pendleton had just performed at former President Barack Obama's second inauguration.

Stephen Abdul was one of the teenagers with Pendleton that day, celebrating the end of final exams at King College Prep High School. He positively identified Ward during his testimony Thursday.

Some of the witnesses the jury heard from were also injured in the shooting.

RELATED: Opening statements heard in Hadiya Pendleton murder trial

Danetria Hutson tearfully recalled fleeing the gunfire.

"When we got a little bit away, Hadiya said she thought she had been shot," said Hadiya's friend Danetria Hutson. "She slumped in front of me and put her on my lap. I tried to find the bullet wound, but I couldn't."

Hutson also said that Pendleton became unresponsive.

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Another friend, Lawrence Sellers, was shot in the calf that day.

"We was all panicking," he said "We were trying to get her to respond and I checked my wound."

Sebastian Moore discovered his graze wound later that day.

"I felt like I had a rock in my shoe, but not time to deal with that, so I kept running," he said.

There were several oddities during the third day of trial: during the final witness' testimony, as he was identifying Ward, the judge took a sudden recess and deputies appeared at the door. The court was told it was unrelated and the trial resumed.

A juror was also excused from the Williams jury. The two defendants, Williams and Ward, have separate juries throughout the trial. The court was not told why the juror was removed from the Williams jury, but shortly afterward the judge reminded jurors not to begin discussing the case until they were in deliberation.

Two members of the gallery were also reprimanded by the judge. One of those people was a woman who had several verbal outbursts during the trial. The judge lectured the gallery on the importance of upholding decorum.