CHICAGO (CBS) — The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by prosecutors to an order that tossed the confession of a man who had been convicted of shooting and killing 15-year-old honor student Hadiya Pendleton back in 2013.
Micheail Ward was convicted of first-degree murder in Hadiya’s death in 2018, and sentenced to 84 years in prison.
Hadiya was only 15 years old when she was gunned down in 2013, just days after she and her school band performed in former President Barack Obama’s second inaugural parade. The shooting happened at Harsh Park in the Kenwood neighborhood, about a mile from the Obama family home. Michelle Obama attended Hadiya’s funeral.
Ward’s videotaped confession to the shooting was a key piece of evidence at the trial. He told police he fired shots at Hadiya and her friends because he believed they were rival gang members and was seeking revenge, but claimed he only opened fire because Williams threatened to kill him if he didn’t.
In March of last year, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed Ward’s conviction and granted him a new trial . A three-judge panel of the First District Illinois Appellate Court ruled Ward repeatedly told detectives during the interrogation that he didn’t want to talk to them, and that police kept questioning him and obtained his confession in violation of his constitutional rights.