(RepublicanView.org) – Two teenagers have been charged with the murder of a retired police officer in Chicago. Lazarius Watt, the first suspect, was charged with first-degree murder after he allegedly shot and killed 73-year-old Larry Neuman. Reports indicate that the 16-year-old suspect, who is detained without bond, showed no emotion during his initial court appearance, where prosecutors stated that he was under home confinement in an unrelated case and should not have been on the streets of Chicago’s West Side when the murder took place.
Witnesses said Neuman was mowing his lawn outside his home at around 11:30 am when five or six shots rang out. As he paid a man for helping him, two suspects approached wearing ski masks and armed with handguns. One of them allegedly shouted at the former cop to “freeze,” at which point he reached for his own gun, firing once.
Mr. Neuman’s wife heard the commotion from inside the house and ran out to find her husband on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds to his chest and legs. He died at the scene. Police later recovered four 9 mm and one 40 mm shell casings, as well as Neuman’s .40-caliber weapon.
Local CCTV cameras filmed the alleged assailants fleeing the scene, and police received several calls identifying them. A witness who saw the two suspects flee later identified Lazarius Watt from a police line-up and said he recognized him from the neighborhood. Four other people also confirmed his identity. Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti noted, “Community assistance in this case was instrumental.”
The second suspect, a 17-year-old, was arrested on Thursday, June 27 and charged with both first-degree murder and murder with a strong probability of death or injury. The name of the second individual has not been released.
No motive was established for the killing, but records reveal that Watt was charged in a carjacking case in March and placed on electronic monitoring. After six violations, he was subsequently sentenced to home confinement.
Watt is the second 16-year-old charged with murder in Chicago within a week. Prosecutors charged Raysean Comer for shooting 7-year-old Jai’Mani Amir Rivera in Chicago’s West Side two days earlier.
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