I’m sure he had a smile that could light up a room.<\/p>\n
Annie Sweeney writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n \nLaquan McDonald said little, if anything, to Chicago police as they tried to detain him last year for breaking into trucks while carrying a knife.<\/p>\n What was going through his 17-year-old mind on that stretch of Pulaski Road before he was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer won’t ever be known.<\/p>\n But in the teen’s final month, some caught a glimpse of a kid who showed signs of hope and promise to maybe untangle himself from a troubled life.<\/p>\n …According to court records, McDonald’s father abandoned the family and had “no presence” in his life. At 3, McDonald became a ward of the state when the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services took him into protective custody over allegations that his mother had neglected him, according to state records.<\/p>\n He spent about two months in foster care before he was moved to a relative’s home and eventually back to his mother in 2002. But after just a little more than a year, he was again back in foster care when his mother’s boyfriend beat him, causing cuts, welts and bruises, according to the records.<\/p>\n …Court files show he racked up numerous juvenile arrests and had spent time in juvenile lockup.<\/p>\n …McDonald enrolled in Sullivan House Alternative School in September 2014, a month before his shooting. In the few weeks he had been there, staff said he was engaged. He tended to arrive early, ahead of the 8 a.m. start, they said.<\/p>\n …McDonald, who was tall at 6-foot-2, liked to rap and dance, his teacher recalled. And he was happy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n COMMENTS:<\/p>\n * The life and shooting of this young man is tragic, but this LA Times article is almost the same quality of a bad SNL skit. If anyone ever doubts the media being liberal, show them this article. <\/p>\n * Wasn’t Mike Brown also just turning his life around? These kids always seem to get shot just as they were turning their lives around.<\/p>\n * PCP isn’t a turning your life around. It’s turning your life inside out.<\/p>\n * With a name like his, it’s no wonder. Now that mommy got a $5,000,000 pay out for bad parenting, I wonder how long it will be before his long lost father shows up demanding a piece of the pie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’m sure he had a smile that could light up a room. Annie Sweeney writes: Laquan McDonald said little, if anything, to Chicago police as they tried to detain him last year for breaking into trucks while carrying a knife. … Continue reading