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In re J. R.

Case Date: 12/04/1998
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-96-0782



In re J.R., No.1-96-0782

1st Dist. 12-4-98



THIRD DIVISION

December 4, 1998



Nos. 1-96-0782 & 96-0979 (cons.)

IN THE INTEREST OF J.R., A minor,and T.J., A minor,

(PEOPLE OF THE STATE OFILLINOIS,

Petitioner-Appellee,

v.

J.R., A minor, and T.J., A minor,

Respondents-Appellants.)

Appeal from the

Circuit Court of

Cook County

No. 94JD16144

Honorable

Carol A. Kelly,

Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE LEAVITT delivered the opinion of the court:

Petitions for adjudication of wardship were filed against minor respondents J.R., age 10, andT.J.,age 11. Following adjudicatory hearings, both respondents were found delinquent forcommitting first degree murder. Following dispositional hearings, both were adjudged wards ofthe court and committed to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). DCFSfiled motions to transfer respondents to the Illinois Juvenile Department of Corrections (JDOC)pursuant to section 3-10-11 of the Unified Code of Corrections (Code) (730 ILCS 5/3-10-11(West 1995)). These motions were granted, and this appeal followed.

Derrick Lemon, the eight-year-old brother of the victim Eric Morris, testified that on theeveningof October 13, 1994, he was walking with his five-year-old brother Eric when they wereapproached by respondents, who asked them if they wanted to see their clubhouse. The twobrothers followed respondents to an abandoned 14th-floor apartment located at 3833 SouthLangley in Chicago. Eric arrived at the apartment first. The apartment had two windows, one ofwhich was boarded. When Derrick entered the apartment, he saw respondents preparing to throwhis little brother out of the window. T.J. was hanging Eric out of one window while J.R. wasremoving a wooden board off the other window. Derrick grabbed Eric's arms and managed topull him back inside the apartment.

J.R., who was standing by one window, then announced, "Look, there's a fight going on,"andT.J. ordered Eric to look out the window. T.J. told Eric, "If you don't look I'll hit you in the headwith a brick." As Eric went to the window to observe the (nonexistent) fight, both respondentsattempted to throw him out of the window. T.J. held Eric by his arm while J.R. held him by hiswaist, together lifting Eric out the window.

At this point, Derrick tried to save his brother by grabbing his arm. T.J. then released hishold onEric and bit Derrick's finger, causing Derrick also to release his hold on Eric. As Eric fell to hisdeath, Derrick ran down the 14 flights of stairs hoping to reach his little brother before he hit theground.

Minor respondents were arrested in connection with the death of Eric Morris, and both gavestatements substantially confirming Derrick's account of his brother's death.

[Nonpublishable material under Supreme Court Rule 23omitted.]

Both T.J. and J.R. argue that their transfers to the JDOC, pursuant to an amendment tosection 3-10-11 of the Code, violated the ex post factoclauses of the United States and IllinoisConstitutions. See U.S. Const., art. I,