Derrion Albert's mother speaks out

September 30, 2:12 PMPhiladelphia Urban Social ExaminerCedric D. Shine

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If you want to send flowers, words of encouragement or a simple prayer note to the family of Derrion Albert you can do so at the following address: The Family of Derrion Albert C/O Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, 7950 S. Normal, Chicago, IL 60620: to send your condolences.

Some interesting stats about the murder rate in Chicago. Trust me, other cities numbers mirror these horrific stats and that is why we have to take action now.

The year 2009 has been a deadly one for young people in Chicago. According to Chicago Police Department records reviewed by BlackAmericaWeb.com, 20 people between the ages of 10 and 16 had been killed by the end of August. The number in the next category – ages 17 to 25 – jumps dramatically to 123 for the first eight months of the year.

A majority of the murder victims – 75 percent – are black. A majority of the suspects – 71 percent - are black. Many of the dead and the suspects were either current or former Chicago school students. The system is the third largest in the country, with more than 400,000 students.

Mothers of the suspects as well as the victim’s mother respond to the tragic death of Derrion Albert.. Two South Side mothers on Monday confronted the brutal violence their sons are accused of as formal charges against the teens were filed and images of them allegedly beating and stomping to death another teenager made national news. One tearfully said she could not bear to look at the video. The other regretfully acknowledged it was her son on the video depicting the fatal beating of Fenger High School student Derrion Albert, 16. “That’s Gene. That’s my son. I’m not going to lie about that,” said Sherry Smith, the mother of Eugene Riley, 18, one of four teens charged in the attack. “I do give my condolences to that family because (their) child shouldn’t have lost his life over this.” Riley and Fenger students Silvonus Shannon, 19, and Eric Carson, 16, were charged Monday with murder and ordered held without bail. Eugene Bailey, 18, was charged later Monday. Carson, who is from the Ville and is charged as an adult, was the first to strike Albert on the head, using a long railroad tie, Assistant State’s Attorney Jodi Peterson said. Albert was knocked out briefly, and when he woke up, a group from Altgeld attacked him. Riley allegedly used a railroad tie again to strike him and Shannon stomped on his head several times, Peterson said.

The families of Carson and Bailey could not be immediately reached, but Smith and Tamaray Shannon, Silvonus Shannon’s mother, said there was a lot of tension at the school last week. She said her son had been chased out of school and stalked between classes by teens from the Ville. Smith, Riley’s mother, said she pulled another son, Vashion Bullock, 17, out of Fenger Wednesday because of safety reasons. Neither Riley nor Shannon have a criminal history, and both hold jobs, their attorney said. Carson was on probation for a 2008 robbery conviction, Peterson said. Smith believes that Riley was defending his brother in the fight. Shannon, who has not viewed the tape, said she doesn’t believe her son would have stomped on Albert’s head. “Silvonus is not a bad kid,” said Shannon, 40. “He was protecting himself. Silvonus is not what they are making him out to be.” A Cook County prosecutor said Albert’s death was a result of a brawl between two neighborhood groups, one from the Altgeld Garden public housing complex and the other from the neighborhood known as the “Ville.”