Ongoing case · 2013
Also known as Hadiya Pendleton's death · Hadiya Pendleton death
Ongoing case: this file carries charge-sheet facts only. Anyone charged is presumed innocent unless convicted.
The short answer
Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago student, was shot and killed in a park in January 2013 after the group she was standing with was mistaken for members of a rival gang. Two men were convicted; one conviction was later overturned, and that defendant was awaiting a new trial as of January 2026.
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Suggest coverage for Killing of Hadiya PendletonOn January 29, 2013, Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old girl from Chicago, Illinois, was shot in the back and killed while standing with friends in Harsh Park in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago, shortly after finishing her final exams. Pendleton was a student at King College Prep High School and had performed at events for President Barack Obama's second inauguration just one week before her death. The shooting occurred approximately one mile from President Obama's Chicago home. First Lady Michelle Obama attended Pendleton's funeral, and President Obama referenced her death in his 2013 State of the Union Address, where her parents, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton and Nathaniel A. Pendleton Sr., were guests. Cowley-Pendleton later appeared onstage, without speaking, at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Two suspects, Micheail Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20, were arrested and indicted on multiple counts including first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated discharge of a weapon. According to police, the suspects said Pendleton was not their intended target; the group she was standing with had been mistaken for members of a rival gang. A judge denied bail to both men. At the time of the shooting, Ward, identified as the gunman, was on probation following a January 2012 guilty plea for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. He had subsequently been arrested multiple times in 2012 for offenses including breaking into vehicles and misdemeanor trespassing, and had a prior juvenile record involving charges ranging from robbery to battery to marijuana possession.
Both Ward and Williams were charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated battery with a firearm. Their trial began on August 14, 2018. On August 22, 2018, a jury found Williams guilty of first-degree murder of Pendleton, as well as aggravated battery against her friends Sebastian Moore and Lawrence Sellers. The following day, August 23, 2018, a jury found Ward guilty of first-degree murder in Pendleton's death. Ward was sentenced to 84 years in prison on January 14, 2019. Williams was sentenced on July 20, 2021, to 42 years in prison — 35 years for the murder and seven for aggravated battery.
On March 31, 2023, it was reported that an Illinois Appellate Court had overturned Ward's conviction, ruling that his videotaped confession was inadmissible and should not have been entered into evidence at trial. On January 2, 2025, it was reported that Ward had been granted the right to a new trial. As of a January 29, 2026 CBS News report, Ward was still awaiting that new trial.
Pendleton's death has been referenced in the arts and in public commemoration, including in rapper Lupe Fiasco's song "Jonylah Forever," and in June 2026 an atrium at the Barack Obama Presidential Center was opened in her honor.
Hadiya Pendleton is shot and killed in Harsh Park, Kenwood, Chicago, after being mistaken for a rival gang member.
President Obama references Pendleton's death during his State of the Union Address; her parents attend as guests.
Trial of Micheail Ward and Kenneth Williams begins.
Jury finds Kenneth Williams guilty of first-degree murder of Pendleton and aggravated battery of her friends.
Jury finds Micheail Ward guilty of first-degree murder in Pendleton's death.
Micheail Ward is sentenced to 84 years in prison.
Kenneth Williams is sentenced to 42 years in prison.
It is reported that an Illinois Appellate Court overturned Ward's conviction due to inadmissible videotaped confession evidence.
It is reported that Micheail Ward has been granted the right to a new trial.
CBS News reports that Ward is still awaiting a new trial.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
15-year-old student fatally shot in Harsh Park, Chicago, on January 29, 2013.[3]
Convicted in August 2018 of first-degree murder of Pendleton and aggravated battery of her friends; sentenced to 42 years in prison in July 2021.[3]
Convicted in August 2018 of first-degree murder as the gunman; sentenced to 84 years; conviction later overturned by an Illinois Appellate Court in March 2023, and granted a new trial in January 2025, which was still pending as of January 2026.[3]
From the record
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
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Image recordEditorial useSourceONGOINGListen900 block of East 54th Street, Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois · 2020s
On November 9, 2021, 24-year-old University of Chicago graduate Zheng Shaoxiong was fatally shot during an armed robbery in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. Alton Spann, then 19, was charged days later with first-degree murder, armed robbery, and unlawful use of a weapon.
Credit: Unknown photographer; via Wikimedia CommonsPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenKenwood neighborhood, Chicago, Illinois · 1920s
In 1924, University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb kidnapped and killed 14-year-old Bobby Franks in Chicago in what they called an attempt at a "perfect crime." Both men pleaded guilty and were sentenced to life plus 99 years.
Credit: Compiled by "a member of the Chicago Press"; published by Theo A. Patterson, Progressive…Public domainSourceSOLVEDListenCarter Harrison III residence, Chicago, Illinois · 1890s
On October 28, 1893, newspaper distributor Patrick Eugene Prendergast fatally shot Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison III inside Harrison's residence, driven by a delusion that Harrison had wrongfully denied him a city legal appointment. Prendergast was convicted of first-degree murder and hanged in 1894.
Credit: RaptacCC BY-SA 4.0SourceSOLVEDListenBardstown, Kentucky · 2015
Crystal Rogers, a 35-year-old Bardstown, Kentucky, mother of five, disappeared in July 2015 and has never been found; in 2025, her former boyfriend, Brooks Houck, was found guilty of her murder, and two other men were convicted of related conspiracy and evidence-tampering charges.
Credit: Wisconsin Department Of JusticePublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenBarron, Wisconsin · 2018
A 13-year-old Wisconsin girl was abducted from her home after her parents were fatally shot in October 2018 and was found safe 88 days later after escaping her captor's rural cabin in January 2019.
Credit: NCMEC / Manchester (NH) Police DepartmentLaw-enforcement releaseSourceOVERTURNEDListenManchester, New Hampshire, United States · 2019
Harmony Montgomery, a five-year-old girl in Manchester, New Hampshire, was reported missing in 2021 and was later found to have been killed by her father in 2019; his 2024 murder conviction was reversed on appeal in 2026.
