The family of Hadiya Pendleton is finally seeing some justice nearly six years following the teen's tragic murder. The gunman responsible for killing Pendleton just days after she performed at President Obama's inauguration has been found guilty.
According to the Chicago Sun Times, 24-year-old Micheail Ward was found guilty of first-degree murder as well as two counts of aggravated battery, a verdict that came only a day after Ward's getaway driver, Kenneth Williams, was also found guilty for his role in the killing.
“My arms were raised yesterday, and my tears today are because I feel like finally something positive in our life has happened as a result of our daughter being gone,” Hadiya's mother, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, told reporters through tear-filled eyes. “There’s justice for Hadiya because she did not deserve that. She did not live a life like that."
Hadiya was only 15 years old when she and fellow classmates we're caught in the middle of gun crossfire at Southside Chicago's Harsh Park. Mistaken for rival gang members, the group was shot at, leaving Hadiya fatally wounded. News of her death hit the city hard. Hadiya was an honors student and majorette at King College Prep High School and had just performed at the second inauguration for fellow Chicagoan former President Barack Obama.
“We would rather have Hadiya, but the fact that we have justice for her life being taken, we’ll take it,” her mother continued.
While the verdict has allowed for a sense of closure for the Pendleton family, the verdict stirred indignation among the Ward family. April Ward, Micheail's mother, shared with reporters that she still believes her son is innocent.
“They lied to him. They sat there and manipulated him into saying what they wanted them to hear,” Ward said. “I’m floored and upset.”
However, Hadiya's father, Nathaniel Pendleton, wants the families of the two convicted young men to know they can visit their sons in prison, but he must go to a cemetery to visit his daughter.
“We’re just ready to move on to the next page,” he said. “They got what they deserve, and now it’s time for us to … move on.”
“And who you were before you lost your child, it’s forever, forever tarnished, forever gone,” Hadiya's mother concluded. “All you can do is try to figure out how to pick your life up."
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