By Victor Omondi
A 15-year-old from Waukegan, Illinois, was indicted with a shooting that occurred miles away from where he was, but police allegedly bribed him to admit that he committed the crime. He claims that the police bribed him using fast food from the famous McDonald’s. His family is now demanding an explanation.
Following his acquittal in the February 4 shooting of a Dollar Store employee, Martell Williams’ family sought a public apology on Monday (Feb. 21). Officers pressured him to confess in exchange for a McDonald’s lunch while he was in custody, he claims.
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According to Chicago station WGN, Williams’ family and attorney attended a press conference in front of the Waukegan Police Department. A family member argued that the police “need to apologize and say he didn’t do this.”
Williams was taken from class and escorted to his school’s dean’s office on Feb. 16. “And once I reached her office, there were two police officers. As soon as I got in, they didn’t tell me nothing, say nothing to me. They just said, ‘You’re under arrest,’ ” Williams said.
“Try to bribe him with McDonald’s saying, ‘look. Just tell us you were there.’ They don’t even tell him about a shooting. ‘Just tell us you were there and we’ll have you home in ten minutes,’” stated Williams’ attorney, Kevin O’Conno.
Williams spent two nights in the Lake County Juvenile Detention Center after being charged with attempted murder and aggravated violence.
However, the case against him quickly disintegrated. On the night of the shooting, the freshman’s family produced a time-stamped photograph proving he was playing basketball for his high school in Lincolnshire.
Officials deleted Williams’ record, said O’Connor, but they should also apologize publicly. “This is a continuing and ongoing problem. The Department of Justice has been here, yet this is still going on, where there are false confessions brought in,” he stated.
In a separate incident, a Black Ohio man is pursuing charges against an unidentified woman who falsely accused him of possessing a gun at a parking lot in Ravenna, Ohio, where he was waiting for a job training meeting to begin.
On Thursday (Aug. 13) Darren Cooper arrived at the Portage County Job and Family Services building parking lot to attend a 9 a.m. training session. Suddenly, his car was swarmed by police officers, who ordered him to put his hands up after an unidentified woman called police from a dentist’s office across the street and said a man was sitting in a black Mustang with a gun.
Source: Teen Claims Police Bribed Him with McDonald’s into Confession, Demands a Public Apology
