15-Year-Old Charged in April Shooting That Killed Hyde Park Academy Student Eric Billups

A 15-year-old boy is facing first degree murder and attempted first degree murder charges after Chicago police accused him of shooting two Hyde Park Academy students at a bus stop in Woodlawn last spring, killing one of them.

The boy, whose name has not been released because he is a juvenile, was arrested Tuesday, according to Chicago police. He faces charges of first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon, aggravated battery, aggravated discharge of a firearm and intimidation to commit a criminal offense.

The shooting happened around 3:20 p.m. on April 15 on the 6300 block of South Stony Island Avenue, where 16-year-old Eric Billups and a 16-year-old girl were waiting at a bus stop shortly after leaving Hyde Park Academy for the day. Police said a person wearing a school uniform walked up and opened fire on the two teens. Billups was shot multiple times and died at a hospital. The girl was shot in the leg and survived.

Investigators recovered 17 shell casings from the scene.

Police said the shooting stemmed from a fight earlier that day between the suspect and Billups at Hyde Park Academy. The two were expected to fight again, according to police, but the suspect was let out of school early. He returned to the area with a gun and opened fire on Billups and the girl standing with him, police said.

Five months passed between the shooting and Tuesday's arrest. Police said the investigation included witness interviews and forensic work tied to the shell casings recovered at the bus stop, but they did not detail what evidence led them to identify and charge the teen.

Hyde Park Academy is on South Stony Island Avenue in the Woodlawn neighborhood. The bus stop where Billups was killed is used by students catching CTA buses home after school lets out.

Billups' family and neighborhood activists pressed police for months for updates on the case, holding vigils and making public appeals for information after his death.

No court date for the 15-year-old had been announced as of Thursday. Because he faces some juvenile counts along with an adult first degree murder charge, prosecutors must determine how the case proceeds through Cook County's court system, where minors charged with the most serious offenses can be tried as adults depending on the circumstances and the state's attorney's filing decisions.

Police said no additional information was immediately available Thursday afternoon.