‘Why would you just come out shooting?’ Mother of 14-year-old boy killed by Lake County homeowner questions man’s account
Ex-PH2 sends us this update of the sad tale of a 14 year old losing his life in a botched auto theft / target of opportunity with his older relatives and friends. The cousins and crew are now up on felony murder charges, and baby-momma wants answers.
This one will hurt, Claw.
Tyiesha Annan sounded tired, but mostly angry, as she talked about her 14-year-old son and the questions she has for the homeowner in Lake County who shot and killed him, telling police he fired his gun to scare the boy and five other teens off his property.
“Why would you just come out shooting?” Annan asked. “Two things are for certain. He shot him in the head. You knew what you were doing when you shot my baby in the head.”
Annan has spent the last few days making funeral arrangements and finding a burial plot for her son, Ja’quan Swopes, who police say was with five other teens who drove onto the homeowner’s remote property in a stolen car early Tuesday to commit a burglary.
“He was a lovable child. I only had two kids, he was my youngest,’’ Annan said. “I’m the type of mother. … I’m overprotective. I don’t let him go nowhere.”
Lake County prosecutor defends murder charges against teens whose friend was killed during attempted car theft, saying teens ‘ultimately’ were responsible for the death »
But about a week ago she allowed Ja’quan to stay with his cousins near Washington Park on the South Side even though they have had run-ins with the law. “My nephews, they steal cars sometimes,” she said. “Yes, they were wrong for being in a stolen car, but he was wrong for pulling the trigger.”
Police say Ja’quan, four cousins and a friend had traveled to Old Mill Creek near the Wisconsin border in a stolen black Lexus SUV. Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, a 75-year-old man went outside his home in the 17600 block of West Edwards Road after seeing some of the teens near his 2011 Audi.
Ja’quan Swopes, 14, was shot and killed by a homeowner in Old Mill Creek, in Lake County near the Wisconsin border. Prosecutors allege that Swopes and five other teenagers intended to commit residential and vehicle burglaries.
I get the obvious racial overtones here, but do me a favor and keep the “dindu nuffin” and the like comments to yourselves.
Thanks bunches.
AW1
Category: "Teh Stoopid", Guest Link, Legal, Police
Just turning his life around?
Ja’quan Swopes was a “good, church-goin’ boy” that was going to be a “pillar of the community”…
He was always such a nice boy… like Ted Bundy.
75 year old man outnumbered 6 to 1. Six teens riding in a stolen car trying to steal or damage another car after midnight. Race is unimportant here; these kids are lucky only one was shot. I hate to hear of a kid losing their life but there are bad, bad choices being made. And AW1Ed, what is your point? Sad that the kid was shot? Sad that felony murder charges are hitting the other kids? You are not very clear.
It was 1am. Probably dark.
Yeah, it was about race.
Per the news story, the 14-year-old was 5’4″ and weighed 168, which is adult sized in a lot of people.
In the dark, he most likely did NOT look like a youngster. And he was the one carrying the knife, which he dropped in the driveway.
Trayvon, Part II
Don’t disagree – he would certainly look like an adult – and be as dangerous as one. But I’d say what else is important here are the actions of the folks doing the illegal act. Let’s say the guy knew he was a teen – would he have acted any different if all other things were the same? Not blanket defending what he did (he MAY have been able to call the cops or scare them off) but the “kids” were certainly in the wrong already with a stolen car, at night messing around in his neighborhood. This is what
(potentially dangerous) hooliganism looks like. He wouldn’t have known the car was stolen, but everything else indicates criminal activity. Right now, I would give him the benefit of the doubt. We’ll see what the grand jury says.
The moral of the story is what I heard all the senior enlisted folks say to the young ‘uns: Nothing good happens after midnight.
Saw this You Tube on another site where the family of a 17 year old who was shot and killed by a homeowner who was protecting her property blamed HER for his death.
“Burglar’s Family Blames Homeowner for Shooting Trevon Johnson”
Highly recommend watching the video. My jaw dropped when I listened to what the family members said about the incident.
“HOW ELSE HE GONNA GET HIS MONEY?”
“The family of Trevon Johnson (17-year-old) are furious the teen was shot and killed by a homeowner police say was protecting her property.”
“The sister of the teen who died identified him as Trevon Johnson and released the following statement to CBS Miami:”
“I don’t care if she have her gun license or any of that. That is way beyond the law… way beyond, He was not supposed to die like this. He had a future ahead of him. Trevon had goals… he was a funny guy, very big on education, loved learning.”
“You have to look at it from every child’s point of view that was raised in the hood. You have to understand… how he gonna get his money to have clothes to go to school? You have to look at it from his point-of-view.”
Looks like a couple more for claw… and that attitude right there, that’s been fostered by leftists for decades, is exactly what’s wrong with this country.
Agreed.
Here’s a link to Ms. Nautika Harris’s arrest and $5,000 bond:
https://florida.arrests.org/Arrests/Nautika_Harris_40206679/
She sure is an expert on how to stay out of a life of crime, isn’t she?
That mugshot was just disgusting. And she’s in for assault with a deadly weapon? She’s just smiling happily acting like she’s proud of it. Talk about someone with absolutely no sense of shame. Just pure trash.
The comments on that video are a real hoot. Not much sympathy to be found there.
“He was not supposed to die like this. He had a future ahead of him. Trevon had goals… he was a funny guy, very big on education, loved learning.”
“You have to look at it from every child’s point of view that was raised in the hood. You have to understand… how he gonna get his money to have clothes to go to school? You have to look at it from his point-of-view.”
No, no I don’t!
The comments are comic gold. Btw anyone else notice he was wearing a Pablo Escobar shirt in the picture they flashed up there? You cannot make this shit up. Oh I’m sure he had goals and dreams alright.
His goal was to get some street cred; instead, he got him some dirt cred – six feet of it.
Try as I might, I have no sympathy for either family under discussion here, the 14 year-old’s or the 17 year-old’s.
Maybe how could get a job? Just sayin’.
Chicago to Old Mill Creek is almost 50 miles. A stolen car loaded with miscreants heading out on a road trip at 01:00 are not traveling that far at that time to hand out pamphlets for The Jehovah’s Witnesses. They went looking for trouble, and found it. Sucks that a 14 year old kid got killed, but if someone needed to get harmed, better one of them than the homeowner who just wanted to keep what he worked for. Sympathy Level is stuck on 0.
I looked at the place on Google Earth. It’s way out in the boonies. They were not looking for a M cDonald’s or convenience store. Police response times in those rural areas are long, if they even have police.
I have lived in the boonies. As I mentioned, you cannot rely on police, ambulance, or fire services. Strangers driving up to my house at 1:00 AM are going to get the same or worse. I might not even give a warning shot, depending on my estimate of the situation. Those other 5 “kids” are lucky; the guy down the road might have been better armed and a better shot.
I also live in the boondocks where my neighbors and I consider warning shots to be a complete waste of ammo!
As you say. And I’ll bet many of them also own backhoes. And those who don’t probably have friends who do.
The story appears to be about how certain individuals are separated from reality when it comes to personal responsibility and what counts as a “good” person. A lovable person, because it’s so lovable to go around stealing peoples cars.
“Good boys” don’t hang out with criminal relatives and go out to commit crimes. “Good parents” don’t allow their offspring to hang out with criminal relatives, because they know that it can lead to tragic consequences, the least of which is jail and a ruined life.
As my FTO told me, many years ago, make that many, many years ago, “nothing good ever happens after midnight“.
Give me an effing break. Racial overtones my a$$. I don’t care if you are white, black, brown, red, yellow, green, or purple; you on my property at ogawdthirty in the morning, I’m going to make a very spirited attempt to shoot you; not just shoot at you, but shoot INTO you. I’m sure that the homeowner had no idea what race the punks were, it was probably too dark to tell.
You want to blame somebody for his death baby momma. Look in a mirror. YOU knew that the cousins got into trouble, not “mischief”, ie; run ins with the law. And YOU let him stay with them. If YOU wanted him to be with the cousins, then YOU should have let them stay with YOU. Maybe YOU should have been more overprotective and YOU would not have YOURSELF to blame for his death. They played stupid games and now they have won stupid prizes. Ja’quan won the Grand Stupid Prize. The rest can rot in jail for the rest of their lives for all I care. The taxpayers will be supporting them forever, one way or another.
If I were ever stupid enough to do something like this to anyone, I honestly hope they do shoot me because quite clearly something went wrong with me. My parents raised me better than that (my mom would flay me if I did).
Plus they were looking at stealing his car as well. And once again, I lumped protecting yourself, your loved ones, and property together. Though, I see now that I wasn’t being obvious enough.
Ignore that previous reply. That was meant for timactual.
What’s next, are they going to claim that he was a Youth Deacon from his Church going out to evangelize? It sucks that the kid got killed, but that Homeowner did what he had to defend himself and his home!
This says it all IMHO: “My nephews, they steal cars sometimes,”
Doesn’t everyone? Its just a felony. Perfectly fine for a 14 year old to be with these choirboys at 0100.
Bring the brain dead baby momma up on charges of child abuse / reckless endangerment… she straight up admits that she knowingly allowed / encouraged him to associate with known felons…
The presently dead and former Boston Mayor
Mumbles Menino said stealing cars was not
a crime.
The disconnect from reality in the welfare society is what gets me.
It’s okay to steal from other people but it’s not okay for other people to protect themselves and their property.
Even better? Baby mama did NOT know that her 14-year-old “baby” was up in Lake Forest at 1AM, trying to steal another car with his cousins.
Yeah, she’s overprotective, all right.., then the “he’s dead”message comes and she’s bewildered?
NOT Lake Forest – I meant Old Mill Creek. Not enough caffeine to engage brain and fingers.
“Two things are for certain. He shot him in the head. You knew what you were doing when you shot my baby in the head.”
Uhhh, did the kid somehow not know what he was doing when he helped steal a car and then joined in when they decided to go rob somebody else? Because I fail to see how he couldn’t.
Besides, “remote” generally means “far outside the city limit,” i.e. more likely to shoot someone who’s breaking in. That’s just common sense. The kid’s own bad decisions led him to his death. Not youthfully foolish decisions, BAD ones. The overwhelming majority of14-year old males wouldn’t have been there in the first place.
My God. So who was in the wrong here again? A bunch of idiots riding in a stolen car looking to potentially burglarize someone’s house (Even if that wasn’t the case they are still trespassing on his property which is mentioned to be remote. If I were in his shoes I would be uneasy to.)? And the homeowner is in the wrong for being weary and wanting to protect his property? I really want to be sympathetic here but I just can’t.
” wanting to protect his property?”
Property my left buttock. At 1;00 AM in the boonies you are protecting your ass and the asses of loved ones from “night riders” or the equivalent who don’t mean you any good.
That’s kind of what I meant by property. I lumped protecting yourself and loved ones in with it.
Plus they were possibly looking at stealing his car as well which is also why I wrote property. And once again, I lumped protecting yourself, your loved ones, and property together (to me, they coincide with each other). Though, I can see now that I wasn’t being obvious enough.
They were on their way to O’Hare to go to Europe so Trevon could pick up his Nobel Peace Prize for Social Studies on young black males and the proper methods of auto procurement.
They just missed the exit and were on their way back when they accidentally ended up on that mans property…..
” I can see now that I wasn’t being obvious enough.”
Not your fault. You can’t be obvious enough for me. I have been often characterized as being a bit dim or slow on the uptake.
Sorry timactual. And I do agree with your point of view. It’s foolish to rely on someone who can’t always be there to help especially when you are in the middle of nowhere (I wish foreigners would understand this).
The knee-jerk reactions from the South Side took place almost immediately after the IDs of the thieves and the dead teen were announced.
One thing that everyone can take to the bank is that I do not care about what happened to this kid.
Or any other teen and adult who chooses to participate in criminal activities.
I’m over the blame game where everyone is at fault except the perp. The fact is that this is just a great case of “play stupid games”.
Mommy dearest need only look into a mirror to find out who is to blame here….
She likely did a great “overprotective” job of making sure he had a healthy diet, since he was 5’4″ and weighted 168 pounds at age 14. Somehow I doubt the homeowner intended to shoot him in the head. That boy should have been taller and he would have stopped that bullet center of mass.
Baby momma needs to understand that when she lets her boy play criminal games, sometimes he can win the supreme criminal prize, the dirt nap.
Hack Stone weighed 129 pounds when he shipped to Parris Island, age 18. It must have been that White Privilege that had him so filled out.
Dayum, and I thought I was a skinny little bastard at 160.
Then they made me Company Yeoman and I had to run EVERYWHERE. Came out at 145.
“I’m the type of mother. … I’m overprotective. I don’t let him go nowhere.”
Except with his car thieving cousins for a week. Mother of the year here, folks. I think she might be either grossly misinformed on what “overprotective” means or she’s using it ironically.
The lack of any personal responsibility is the overarching thread in most of these instances. Used to be a kid got shot trying to steal somebody’s stuff, even the most hood people in the ghetto said “well that’s what ya get.” Now, it’s always someone else’s fault.
If Mama was “overprotective”, she would have kicked a bone out of her boy’s ass and did a better job of keeping him at home, instead of letting him run around with the local thugsters. Now, she’s going to bury him for some bad decisions on her and her son’s part.
Well, he didn’t raise the “shot and killed” stats in Chicago (heyjackass.com).
No, but he did raise the “white man shot and killed unarmed black child” stats. I am sure we will hear about that.
Pictures of the Five Teens charged with murder of Jaquan Swopes.
Under the article, click “More Photos”.
“Lake County Murder Charges Are Shocking,
Say Parents of One of 5 Teens”:
https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20190815/lake-county-murder-charges-are-shocking-say-parents-of-one-of-5-teens
Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim said in a statement Thursday afternoon that he made “the tough decision”to approve felony murder charges for the five teens.
“Ultimately, it’s clear these offenders were solely responsible for placing the now-deceased 14-year-old offender in danger. They are ultimately responsible for his death. Had they not made the decisions they did make early Tuesday morning, this 14-year-old would still be alive today,” he said.
And they still won’t take any responsibility for any of it, because RACISSSS!!!!
Interesting Editorial in the Chicago-Sun Times on the Five Teens being charged with murder of Jaquan Swopes:
“EDITORIAL: Charge of Murder Against Five Teens in Gurnee Shooting Is a Stretch: Illinois’ Felony Murder Law Goes Too Far In Its Notion of What Constitutes Murder. It Should Be Revised.”
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/8/15/20807205/lake-county-states-attorney-gurnee-murder-teenagers-auto-theft-jaquan-swopes
I am shocked that the Chicago Sun-Times editorial staff all think these teens shouldn’t be tried as adults for murder. /sarcasm
I’m sure that whoever wrote that claptrap thinks that those perps are John st “Victims of Society” and all that kind of shit.
Missing In Action:
Jaquan Swopes’ Father.
Tomb of the unknown father?
Sperm Of The Unknown Father.
There ya go…
Honestly, it is sad, how the supposed parents of not only the dead kid, but all those involved have totally failed them. They did nothing to earn the title of parent, past the stage of procreation. Truth be told, they are the ones at the beginning of the fault chain… While these kids made piss-poor choices, and at least one of them has paid for it, they were never taught to make anything even resembling good decisions.
You mean his sperm donor?
Sad but common. Was this a one parent household with inadequate parental supervision at home? She her impressionable 14 year old son stay with his cousins near Washington Park on the South Side even though they have had run-ins with the law. “My nephews, they steal cars sometimes,” But it is the homeowners fault. We don’t know why the man shot the child so it is difficult to make the call without the facts but given the number of intruders, rural location and time of night, it is understandable. Sad regardless.
” We don’t know why the man shot the child…”
I do, and I would have done the same. “child” my ass. He was an indistinct shadow in the dark. One of six who may have been armed, and were certainly up to no good in that area at that time.
Sad but common. Was this a one parent household with inadequate parental supervision at home? She permitted an impressionable 14 year old son stay with his cousins near Washington Park on the South Side even though they have had run-ins with the law. “My nephews, they steal cars sometimes,” But it is the homeowners fault. We don’t know why the man shot the child so it is difficult to make the call without the facts but given the number of intruders, rural location and time of night, it is understandable. Sad regardless.
He brought a knife to a gun fight.
Boom!!!
If I left the house @ the age of 14, @ 0100, somebody is dying, or something better be on fire.
How many “Q”‘s in “Jaquan”?
Requesting Claw, and the wheel, over;
Best type of warning shot, in my opinion.
“Best type of warning shot, in my opinion.”
Indeed. The type that says, “Who’s next?”
“My nephews, they steal cars sometimes,” she said. “Yes, they were wrong for being in a stolen car, but he was wrong for pulling the trigger.”
May the niece and nephews be convicted and serve a lengthy sentence for this, and whatever prior crimes they can be connected to.
To me, the homeowner just cancelled a whole lot of future “wrongs”. Without firing the gun, he may have been gutted with that 10 inch knife dropped by the one advancing on him.
Thank Lyndon Baines Johnson, his “Great Society” legislation and the Democrat party for All of the above.
They created this mess of irresponsibility and they fucking own it.
Typical COMPLETE refusal to take ANY responsibility for doing a CRIME.
Is that not racial enough?
“I get the obvious racial overtones here, but do me a favor and keep the “dindu nuffin” and the like comments to yourselves.”
Speaking of which, here’s a different story of a responsible gun owner protecting her property from a bunch of bad hombres (it took the police three days to arrest her):
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/white-arkansas-woman-charged-pulling-gun-black-teens-fundraising-school-n1043501
Keep in mind, this is different from the OTHER responsible gun owner who also pulled a gun on some people who were standing around MENACINGLY:
https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/5/29/18644543/mississippi-kampground-of-america-gun-picnic-black-couple-charges-video
I wonder why these stories didn’t get posted here? Maybe they weren’t posted to https://www.patriotgunamericanmaganra.com?
I have read about your second incident, but not the first. I note that there were no injuries, no weapons were fired, and that charges were brought against the guilty (yeah, I’m judgemental).
Obviously, though, in your mind the two incidents you bring up are as significant as the one involving an actual death (Black Lives Matter, remember?) and the commission of several actual felonies and the probable commission of more felonies perhaps even including another death.
Hopefully we can rely on you to keep us informed of the really important incidents showcasing the absolute racism of white people, which is much more important than serious criminal activity.
I think it’s a pretty good bet that the Lake County State’s Attorney will offer the boys a plea deal – they plead guilty to each & every burglary charge (in case you missed it, their stolen car was filled with ill-gotten loot), the high-speed police chase and everything else they can pin on them and accept very lengthy prison sentences, in return for dropping the murder charges. It’s a win-win situation for everybody, especially since the Black Lives Matter folks will have to shut their big fat mouths for once.