Chicago Defender

Ill. lawmaker gets community service in gun case

Illinois state Sen. Donne Trotter (AP Photo/John Smierciak, File)

An Illinois state senator accused of trying to board a Washington, D.C.-bound flight with a gun pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor Wednesday and was sentenced to community service.

A judge sentenced Donne Trotter to 60 hours of community service and a year of court supervision for the one count of reckless conduct. The Chicago Democrat also was ordered to pay $190 in fines and costs.

As part of the plea deal, Cook County prosecutors dropped the felony charge of seeking to board an aircraft with a weapon. A felony conviction could have cost the 63-year-old his Senate job and pension.

"He is very relieved," Trotter's attorney, Thomas Durkin, said in a phone interview later Wednesday. He called the resolution of the matter "both fair and appropriate."

Security screeners stopped Trotter at O'Hare International Airport Dec. 5 when they detected the .25-caliber gun. Trotter said he had worked a part-time security job and forgot the weapon was in a garment bag.

Judge Charles Burns told Trotter Wednesday his community service should be spent talking about gun safety, said Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.

Before the incident, Trotter was a front-runner in the race to replace ex-U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. after he resigned. But Trotter withdrew, saying he didn't want the gun charge to be a distraction.

Defender honors 'Women of Excellence'

Defender columnist Therese "Teesee" Fambro Hooks, left, receives a special recognition Thursday, April 25, 2013, during the Defender's Women of Excellence ceremony held at the Hyatt Chicago Hotel. Defender/Worsom Robinson

The Chicago Defender hosted its 7th annual Women of Excellence event Thursday, honoring some of the best and brightest women in their respective industries.

From elected officials to entrepreneurs, the special program recognized women who excel at their craft. The event was held at the Hyatt Chicago Hotel.

Special tribute was paid to the Defender’s own Therese “Teesee” Fambro Hooks for her longevity and “excellence” at the historic newspaper. Teesee is a columnist and author of Teesee’s Town. She first started at the Defender in 1961.

Police search river for suburban Chicago boy

fLakeshia Baker, pictured in this Cook County Jail mugshot, mother of 1-year-old Bryeon Baker, is being held without bond in Cook County Jail. She and her boyfriend have been charged with the boy's death, even though his body had not been found. Photo/Cook County Jail

MAYWOOD, Ill. — Authorities in suburban Chicago resumed searching a river Saturday for the body of a 1-year-old boy who they believe was beaten to death by his mother and her boyfriend.

Bryeon Hunter has been missing since his mother reported last week that he had been kidnapped by three men who also attacked her. The report prompted an Amber Alert and a search of the area near their Maywood home.

Prosecutors say Lakeshia Baker and her boyfriend, Michael Scott, later admitted that the story was a cover-up.

According to court documents, Baker and Scott told police that the boy died in their bathroom after Baker beat him with a belt while Scott restrained him and covered his mouth so other family members wouldn't hear the child's cries.

Baker also told police that she regularly beat her son with the belt, and that Scott beat him with plastic hangers, "because he was crying and whining," police contend in the court filing.

According to prosecutors, both defendants said the boy's body was placed in a backpack, but they each accused the other of disposing of it in the Des Plaines River.

Attorneys for Baker and Scott could not be reached for comment Saturday. Baker's attorney, Irv Frazin, told reporters after a court appearance last week that she is innocent and that she herself has been repeatedly beaten by Scott.

Authorities began searching the Des Plaines River last week, but the search had to be called off after heavy rains and flooding made it too difficult.

Maywood Police Officer Michael Hurd said Saturday that a team of professional searchers returned to the river with Maywood police and Cook County Sheriff's deputies. They were using sonar equipment to search the area near where Baker and Scott said the boy's body was disposed.

Baker, 22, and Scott, 21, both have been charged with first-degree murder. Baker is being held without bond, while Scott is being held in lieu of $750,000 bond.

Rush, Davis host congressional forum on public school closures

U.S. Reps. Bobby Rush, D-1st Dist., left, and Danny Davis, D-7th Dist., listened as parents, community residents, members of advocacy groups and others addressed the impact of the Chicago Public Schools plan to close 54 schools starting next school year. The congressmen held a forum at Quinn African Methodist Episcopal Church April 20, 2013. Defender/Worsom Robinson

The Chicago Public Schools’ announcement of 54 school closures continues to be met with public resistance. Almost all of the targeted schools are within either U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush’s 1st Congressional District or U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis’ 7th Congressional District. The two held a joint congressional forum April 20 to discuss the closures with the community.

Starting next school year, 54 schools that the school district deemed under used and lower performing have been recommended to close and the students transferred to other nearby higher-performing schools. Many of the welcoming schools are ones that also are under used, but are said to have better academic success.

Davis and Rush took part in a tour of previously closed schools and the communities surrounding them for an up close look at the impact. The tour, held earlier this month, was hosted by the Chicago Teachers Union.

Davis said then that he didn’t have a lot of information about the closures so the CTU tour and the congressional forum were was for him to “hear from the community.”

The forum was held at Quinn A.M.E. Church, 2401 S. Wabash. Parents, community residents, members of advocacy organizations and CTU President Karen Lewis attended the daylong forum.

Rush also expressed concern over the 17 schools proposed to close in his district. 

He questions closing so many schools in the district, overall, at one time.