Jahmeshia Conner 12, reported missing/found dead in South Side alley Chicago

[Nut44x4]

Missing 12-year-old girl found dead in South Side alley 
November 30, 2009 6:41 PM | No Comments | BREAKING STORY

A 12-year-old girl who was missing for the last two weeks was found dead in a South Side alley this morning, her family said.

Family members said they have viewed photographs and identified the girl as Jahmeshia Conner, who was last seen Nov. 15. She was a fifth grader at O'Toole Elementary School.

Chicago police said the body was found this morning in the 6400 block of South Marshfield Avenue, about a block from her home. Further details about her identity and cause of death were pending an examination by the Cook County medical examiner's office, police said.

Family members said it appeared from the photos that Jahmeshia may have been beaten.

Various online missing-children sites refer to Jahmeshia as an "endangered runaway," but family members insisted she would never run away.

"She was a good child. She had excellent grades. She never ran away,'' said Denise Lewis, 39, an aunt. "She never stayed out all night."

Lewis said her niece was last seen on Nov. 15 at her house at 63rd and Aberdeen Streets and had been watching videos and singing karaoke with Lewis' children.

Her aunt said she saw Jahmeshia leave the house at about 7 p.m. and get on a bus to her home in the 6500 block of South Marshfield Avenue.

But Jahmeshia's mother, Birdie Lewis, said she thought her daughter stayed overnight at her aunt's house. It wasn't until the following afternoon, when Jahmeshia didn't return home from school, that family members reported her missing, she said.

An autopsy will be performed Tuesday to determine her cause of death, authorities said.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/11/missing-12-year-old-girl-found-dead-in-south-side-alley.html

[Nut44x4]

Nov 30, 2009 4:56 pm US/Central 12-Year-Old Girl Found Dead In Alley
Teen Had Been Missing Since Nov. 15
CHICAGO (CBS) ―  A 12-year-old girl who disappeared earlier this month has been found dead, her family tells CBS 2.

Jahmeshia Conner's body was found in a South Side alley today near 64th and Marshfield, say family representatives who identified her through photographs. She was last seen Nov. 15 between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. as she got on a bus at 63rd & Racine on her way home from her aunt's house.

Family members say Jahmesha had never run away.

An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday to positively identify the body. The Chicago Police Department's News Affairs office said it was waiting on results before it could identify the victim.
http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/12.year.old.2.1341276.html

[Nut44x4]

Why on earth is a 12 year old allowed to travel around Chicago on a bus ALONE!!! WTF!!!!!!!!???????? Do people never watch the news or read newspapers anymore? This world we live in is NOT SAFE! Families need to WAKE UP! 

[cookie]

don't parents bother calling anymore to make sure that their 12 yr old child is spending the night for  sure with a relative? has the world changed that much? I can't imagine that it has....I hope  that it has not....for the sake of our children....sad for this child...her life is over at 12... not fair..

[MuffyBee]

   Rest in peace Jahmeshia

I hope those responsible for hurting Jahmeshia and causing her death  will be found and punished to the max.   She was only twelve years old   

[cookie]

Nut ....I think that you and I were posting our outrage at the same time...different wording  but saying about the same....WTF!!!

[MuffyBee]

I agree with you Nut and cookie.  WTF?!  In this day and age of cell phones and etc., it's fairly easy to stay connected.  Don't these people talk or text to one another?  What happened to good old fashioned communication?  You know.  Where one party contacts the other party to be certain the twelve year old child arrived safely?      I think some of this stuff is a result of parents/elders thinking more about themselves and their plans and etc. then that of the children.  I think some just plain aren't too interested.  JMHO  Some may think they are raising their young to be self-sufficient or independent, when actually it's rubbing up closely to neglect imo. 

[cookie]

well said Muffers!  parents really do need to wake up as Nut said!
ggggrrrrr!

if parents  can't be bothered to protect/ care for their own children, what a sad sad world we live in... some kids don't have a chance...they have to know that their parents don't care about them...how sad is that??

[Nut44x4]

December 1, 2009

A 12-year-old girl missing for the past two weeks after heading home on a CTA bus was found dead in an alley in her Englewood neighborhood.

Relatives had held out hope for Jahmeshia Conner, whom relatives last saw alive Nov. 15 about 8 p.m. when she boarded a westbound bus on 63rd Street from Racine Avenue.

"I was just praying that it was not her," said her mother, Birdie Lewis, after getting a call from police about the discovery of a girl's body Monday afternoon.

She said once she saw the collection of key rings that police recovered from the body, she knew the girl was her daughter, an outgoing church choir member who loved to double dutch jump rope and who recently made Luke O'Toole Elementary School's cheerleading squad.

The body was discovered Monday morning lying near trash cans by a man walking with his young daughter near 64th and Marshfield, said her aunt, Sheila Powell.

The girl was missing her shoes and socks, the man told her.

Jahmeshia apparently suffered head trauma, an official said. An autopsy is being completed. Police said no one is in custody.

Family members said there wasn't a lot of media attention to the girl's case. Family members and supporters plastered the area with fliers seeking information about the 4-foot-9, 120-pound girl.

Jahmeshia had been to her aunt's house Nov. 15, stopping there after church services. When she didn't come home, her mother assumed she'd spent the night at her aunt's. She panicked when she learned otherwise.

Jahmeshia, who had four brothers and two sisters and spent time in praise dance practices, wasn't likely a runaway, her folks insisted.

Community activist Andrew Holmes, who included her poster with those of a couple of other 12-year-olds who have gone missing recently, said he found it difficult to bring awareness to the cases.

Holmes also is trying to help find Paola Pena and Gregory Chacon, both 12 and missing since early November. Paola, a 5-0 Hispanic girl weighing about 110 pounds, has been missing since Nov. 6. Gregory, a 5-5 Hispanic male weighing 135 pounds, has been missing since Nov. 8.

Police were unable to say late Monday if the two youths were still missing.

"There just isn't enough attention out here with all these [missing] kids," he said. "All kids are not considered runaways. I believe that if this baby's picture had been on TV and in the open, someone would have called in.

"Maybe this baby would be living today."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1912461,female-body-alley-south-side-113009.article

[Nut44x4]

http://mystateline.com/content/fulltext/?cid=119541

Chicago Girl Found In Alley Strangled

Tuesday, Dec 1, 2009 @04:05pm CST

(Chicago) -- The 12-year-old Chicago girl found dead in an Englewood neighborhood alley was strangled to death. Chicago police say they're investigating the death of Jahmeshia Conner as a homicide after she disappeared November 15th.

Conner was supposed to ride the bus to her home on the 65-hundred block of South Marshfield Avenue but never arrived.

Investigators are back in the girl's neighborhood to see if anyone had seen her since she vanished.

[Nut44x4]

Strangled Girl Was Seen in Neighborhood
12.1.09

The 12-year-old girl found strangled Monday morning in a South Side alley was seen by witnesses in her home's neighborhood while she was classified as a missing person, police said Tuesday.

The death of Jahmeshia Conner, a fifth grader at O'Toole Elementary School, was ruled a strangulation by the Cook County medical examiner's office Tuesday afternoon.

"She was last seen in several locations around her home," said Steve Peterson, Deputy Supt. Bureau of Investigative Services, adding that police have requested video from private and public sources to corroborate witness claims.

"Who she was with we're not going to divulge," Peterson said, adding that "some of this was third hand information."

Conner's last sighting before her disappearance was Nov. 15th at a bus stop. She'd attended choir practice that day and paid a visit to her aunt.

Peterson also fielded several questions regarding the police department's handling of the case. Peterson repeatedly claimed that Conner was classified as a missing person -- not a juvenile runaway -- when she was first reported missing Nov. 16th.

Reporters also questioned Peterson about several fliers distributed in connection with Conner's death. Peterson maintained that the CPD distributed only one flier, and that the flier was a missing persons flier.

Conner was found Monday morning when a passerby saw her body laying in an alley in the 6400 block of South Marshfield, just blocks away from her home.


The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office official identified the victim during the autopsy, though her family had given identification after seeing photographs a day earlier, the Chicago Tribune reported.

There's no word on funeral arrangements.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Strangled-Girl-Was-Seen-in-Neighborhood-Cops-78273627.html

[Nut44x4]

Dec 5, 2009 10:24 am US/Central
New Reward Offered In Search For Girl's Killer
Jahmeshia Conner's Body Was Found In An Alley 2 Weeks After She Went Missing

An additional reward was announced Friday for information leading to an arrest in the murder of a missing 12-year-old girl who was found strangled Monday in an Englewood alley.

On Friday, the Cook County Crime Stoppers announced a $1,000 reward for information about Jahmeshia Conner's murder, according to a Crime Stoppers release.

On Thursday, U.S. Congressman Bobby L. Rush offered a $10,000 reward for anyone with information into the slaying.

Jahmeshia Conner was last seen alive on Nov. 15, when she boarded a westbound bus at 63rd Street and Racine Avenue. Her family reported her missing, and claims police did not properly notify the media of her disappearance.

Her body was discovered shortly before 7 a.m. Monday in an alley on the 6400 block of South Marshfield Avenue, according to police. A man walking with his young daughter found the body near trash cans, said Conner's aunt Sheila Powell.

Police News Affairs Dir. Roderick Drew said Thursday it was unclear whether the press didn't receive the flier from News Affairs due to a computer glitch or human oversight. He cited ongoing problems with the department's e-mail system.

"We have had e-mail issues in November, including an instance where we sent a media advisory for a press conference that wasn't received," Drew said in an e-mail. "Therefore no media showed up to the event."

Drew said that incident happened Nov. 18, the same day the critical reach flier was sent to the office regarding Jahmeshia.

Congressman Rush is also demanding answers from the police department as to why local authorities originally classified Jahmeshia a "runaway" and why the department did not issue an AMBER alert. He is also inquiring how many AMBER alerts the Chicago Police Dept. has issued over the past five years, the demographics of the victims and the resolution of those cases, a release from his office said.

Jahmeshia's family has set the girl's funeral services for Saturday at 11 a.m. at the New Covenant Baptist Church, 754 E. 77th St., according to the release.

Rush is also encouraging citizens to support an emergency fund to help Jahmeshia's family ease financial burdens. Donations in lieu of flowers can be mailed to: The Jahmeshia Conner Fund, c/o Gonzalez, Saggio & Harlan, 35 E. Wacker, Suite 500, Chicago, IL 60601. Attention: Atty Darryl Tom, (312) 638-0014.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact Wentworth Area Detectives at (312) 747-8380 and urges residents to attend beat meetings, form block clubs or get involved in other anti-crime efforts. The Cook County Crime Stoppers also urge anyone with information to come forward, and also welcome anonymous tips at (800) 535-STOP (7867).
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/jahmeshia.conner.reward.2.1351674.html

[Nut44x4]

Chicago Sun Times 
December 13, 2009 Sunday
 
'Jahmeshia's death was not in vain'; City will no longer dismiss missing children as 'runaways': 

Speaking at the funeral of 12-year-old Jahmeshia Conner -- found murdered in an Englewood alley two weeks after she'd been reported missing -- U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush said, "Jahmeshia's death was not in vain."

In the wake of Jahmeshia's disappearance and murder, the Chicago Police Department has said it is sending out more-frequent notices about missing children so they will not be dismissed as "runaways," as Jahmeshia apparently was.

"The city will not treat missing children the same way again," Rush said, as Jahmeshia's mother, Birdie Mae Lewis, rocked the girl's 3-year-old brother in her lap at the closed-coffin funeral attended by about 1,000 mourners at New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church.

"This city will not dismiss our missing children anymore. We are going to get busy trying to locate and find our missing children," Rush declared.

Detectives suspect Jahmeshia was murdered Nov. 29, the day before her body was found. She had been strangled. And Saturday, Mayor Daley and Police Supt. Jody Weis confirmed she had also been raped.

The case had sparked controversy over how police treat missing-children's cases. A national missing-children's center had said police placed Jahmeshia in a category on an FBI database reserved for runaways.

Police said that was not their intent, but also admitted they never sent the media a missing-person bulletin on Jahmeshia.

Rush told Jahmeshia's parents not to waste time on what-ifs.

The Police Department "is moving in the right direction" in reviewing its policies, but "we have to find out who killed Jahmeshia," he said.

Jahmeshia's teachers at O'Toole Elementary School and family and friends offered sweet remembrances of the child.

And Sabrina Harris, whose daughter Ryan was murdered in 1998, told Jahmeshia's mother, father, four brothers and two sisters that they shared a bond.

"I feel your pain. I've sat, I'm sitting in the same seat you're sitting in now," Harris said. "What I can tell you, with the Lord, some prayer, and time, you will be able to laugh and smile again."

Between Rush, the Rev. Michael Pfleger and other community activists, a $20,000 reward has been established for anyone with information leading to conviction of the murderer of the girl -- last seen Nov. 15 boarding a westbound bus on 63rd Street at Racine. 
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1092049628&start=12

[Sister]

Not Forgotten...Jahmeshia Conner
November 16,2011
Defender Staff Report
 
 
On Nov. 30, 2009, 12-year-old Jahmeshia Conner's -- an O'Toole Elementary School 5th-grader -- body was discovered in a South Side alley, near her home in the 6500 block of South Marshfield Avenue, weeks after her family had reported her missing. The case remains unsolved.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-1st, issued a $10,000 reward for “anyone who helps bring the killer to justice.”

 ::snipping2::
http://www.chicagodefender.com/article-12130-not-forgottenjahmesh.html