Story highlights
Michael Ward and Kenneth Williams make their first court appearance Tuesday
Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was shot to death in Chicago
Pendleton performed at a brunch before the inauguration of President Obama
The two men suspected of shooting to death a Chicago teenage girl are facing murder charges and will not get bond.
Kenneth Williams, 20, and Michael Ward, 18, went before a judge Tuesday in their first courtroom appearance concerning the killing of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old who performed at a brunch before the January inauguration of President Obama.
Police earlier said that Ward, who allegedly shot Pendleton, was on probation for unlawful use of a firearm.
Ward confessed to shooting Hadiya and two others in late January in a case of mistaken identity, according to Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.
Police said Ward and Williams were gang members seeking revenge against the people who had shot Williams in July, men against whom Williams had refused to press charges when police arrested them.
He and Ward thought they had spotted members of a rival gang at the park when police said Ward sneaked up on Hadiya and her friends and began shooting. Williams was the getaway driver, McCarthy said.
Escalating gang violence has raised Chicago’s murder tally for 2012 to 500, up 50 from 2011, officials said.
