Derrion Albert Killer Sentenced

Story link: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

A South Side teenager was sentenced to prison Tuesday until he’s 21 years old after being convicted in the fatal beating of 16-year-old Fenger High School honors student Derrion Albert.  And if the 15-year-old breaks any rules while incarcerated, he would have to serve 30 years in prison as an adult, Cook County Juvenile Court Judge Colleen Sheehan ruled.

Sheehan acknowledged that the 15-year-old hadn’t meant to seriously harm Albert in the Sept. 24, 2009, attack that was caught on a cellphone video that was widely seen on the Internet.  “Even though you didn’t intend to do that, you are responsible for his death,” Sheehan said.  The teenager, who was 14 at the time of the attack outside Fenger on the far South Side, could be released from prison before he is 21 but must serve at least five years behind bars, under the terms of his sentence.

He can be seen on the video punching Albert in the face, sending him crashing to the pavement.  Albert died after being punched, kicked and struck by wooden boards in broad daylight.  The 15-year-old was found “delinquent” — guilty, in juvenile court terminology — last month of murder.

Last week, a Cook County jury found another suspect in Albert’s death, Silvonus Shannon, guilty of murder. Three others are still awaiting trial.

On Tuesday, Albert’s mother, Anjanette Albert, told the teenager that he “stole” her gift when he killed her son. "You helped destroy a family,” she said.  The boy apologized to the family.