Parents of Hadiya Pendleton talk after guilty verdicts

Leah Hope Image
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Parents of Hadiya Pendleton talk after guilty verdicts
Parents of Hadiya Pendleton talk after guilty verdictsThe parents of Hadiya Pendleton talk after two men charged in their daughter's fatal shooting were convicted last week.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The parents of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton spoke Monday just days after two men were convicted in the fatal shooting of their daughter.

Cleopatra Cowley and Nathaniel Pendleton, the owners of a South Chicago restaurant, are recuperating after a 5-year-old ordeal that began when Hadiya was gunned down in a South Side park.

Last week, two juries found Mickiael Ward and Kenneth Williams guilty in the shooting.

"I was feeling emotions I don't think I ever felt," said Pendleton.

WATCH: Family of Hadiya Pendleton reacts after guilty verdict

The family of Hadiya Pendleton reacted to the guilty verdict Thursday.

"It was celebratory because finally, after five and half years, there is closure there is someone held responsible," Cowley said.

They said they felt an avalanche of emotions.

"At the end of the day we've all lost our child, has been buried and their children are in the system," Cowley said.

"I'm really pleased with the outcome of the courts but there are two young black man that's lives are gone they are in the system and that's where they are going to be," Pendleton said.

Now, they are focusing on their son, Nathaniel Jr., who misses his sister. He is a high school junior now looking at colleges.

RELATED: 5 years after murder, Hadiya Pendleton's parents honor her legacy

WATCH: Verdict is read in Mickiael Ward's trial

A jury found Mickiael Ward guilty of first degree murder in the 2013 death of Hadiya Pendleton Thursday.

WATCH: Verdict being read in Kenneth Williams' trial

Kenneth Williams was found guity of first degree murder and aggrevated battery in the death of Hadiya Pendleton.
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