Woman sought in teen's shooting death turns self in to cops

By Jason Meisner and Azam Ahmed | Tribune staff reporter

March 6, 2008

A woman being sought in the fatal shooting of a teenage girl on Chicago's West Side over the weekend turned herself in to police Wednesday after her family sought the help of a local pastor.

The 20-year-old woman, who police were looking for in connection with the death Sunday of 15-year-old Kadeidrah Marsh, came to the New Mt. Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church shortly after noon, said Rev. Marshall Hatch, a pastor at the church."Her family and friends convinced her that this was the best thing to do," Hatch said. "She was very distraught, very scared. It's hard for everybody involved."

After praying with the woman, Hatch said police were notified and the woman was taken into custody about 12:45 p.m..

First Deputy Supt. James Jackson confirmed that detectives were questioning a "person of interest" in the slaying Wednesday night. He said they were in contact with the state's attorney's office, but no charges had yet been filed in the case.

The development added fresh sorrow to an emotional vigil held Wednesday night in the neighborhood where Marsh was killed, as friends and family were joined by clergy, aldermen, community leaders and police in bemoaning the victims of violent crime.

"This is a situation where a young person obviously lost her way, and she took up violence, and she had access to a gun, which is the biggest problem," Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th) said at the gathering, "Maybe if she didn't have that access to that weapon, we wouldn't be here today."

After hearing speakers at the gathering in Miracle Center Baptist Church, about 200 people marched to the sidewalk where Marsh was shot, chanting "Dee-Dee, rest in peace" and praying near a memorial of balloons, stuffed animals and message-covered poster boards.

Marsh's mother, Kimberly, 42, said Wednesday that she hopes the questioning of the 20-year-old woman would start to bring some closure to the family.

"She doesn't understand what she did to me," Kimberly Marsh said. "I feel like I was robbed, she took something that was so precious to me."

She said her daughters, who were with Kadeidrah when she was shot, were going to try to identify the shooter in a police lineup Wednesday night.

"I hope she's going to be charged with a murder," Kimberly Marsh said. "She took my daughter from me, and she had no right to do that. She has no idea how devastating that is. She couldn't understand."

Marsh was shot in the chest about 9:15 p.m. Sunday in the city's South Austin neighborhood.

Family members said Marsh, a sophomore at Orr High School, was interested in graphic design and was looking forward to a school trip to Washington, D.C.

Services are set for 10 a.m. to noon Monday in Sunshine Missionary Baptist Church, 3660 W. Roosevelt Rd.

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Woman sought in teen's shooting death turns self in to cops

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