Crime /

Charges Dropped Against Mom Who Told Son to Shoot Man at Chicago Restaurant

District Attorney's office says 'emerging evidence' led to their decision to not pursue criminal charges

Published: June 27, 2023
  |   By Adrian Norman

All charges have been dropped against a 14-year-old boy and his mother, who, according to previous reports, urged him to shoot a man at a Chicago restaurant.

Last week, charges were filed against Carlisha Hood and her son after the young man shot 32-year-old Jeremy Brown after Brown punched Hood.

According to initial reports, Brown fled the restaurant after being shot, at which time Hood told her son to fire additional shots and kill the man. Brown died from his injuries.

Since that time, video footage has emerged providing a look at the events that took place that day.

A 20-second clip has been circulating social media showing some of the altercation that led to the shooting. While this footage does not show what happened before the incident, or the part of the story suggesting that the mother told her son to keep shooting Brown, it does show the man viciously punching Hood.

Cook County Attorney Kim Foxx’s office issued a statement saying the decision to drop all charges stemmed from prosecutors’ “continued review and in light of emerging evidence.”

Her office added, “Based upon the facts, evidence, and the law we are unable to meet our burden of proof in the prosecution of these cases.”

“You have the right to use deadly force to stop that force against another person, and that’s exactly what happened in this case, and that’s exactly why the state’s attorney’s office dropped this case today,” CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller said.

He added that criminal charges, especially murder charges, should never have been brought following the incident.

“This goes beyond an injustice. Frankly, it’s a miscarriage of justice as to what happened to this woman and her son,” he said. “It’s a situation where either the charges should have been rejected, or at the very minimum they should have been continued for investigation, rather than just, you know, say, ‘Okay, murder charge. Send them to court.'”

Social media was divided over the decision to drop the charges, with some saying the action by the District Attorney will encourage vigilante justice, and others saying it was a case of self-defense.

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