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Two Chicago men have been charged with the murder of Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old high school honor student who was gunned down at a Kenwood Park late last month only days after marching at President Obama’s inauguration.

Micheail Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20, each were charged Monday with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy announced at a Monday evening news conference.

Hadiya was shot and killed on Jan. 29 in Vivian Gordon Harsh Park on the 4400 block of South Oakenwald Avenue, as she and about a dozen schoolmates were sheltering themselves from the rain under a canopy. Two of her peers were injured in the attack, which McCarthy said was a case of mistaken identity, as Ward pulled the trigger in an attempt to retaliate against rival gang members who had shot Williams in July.

“The offenders had it all wrong,” McCarthy said. “They thought the group they shot into included members of a rival gang. Instead, it was a group of upstanding, determined kids like Hadiya who were repulsed by the gang lifestyle.”

Police took the two men into custody Saturday as they were driving to a strip club, McCarthy said. Ward confessed to shooting into the group of young people at the park, he said.Both men were scheduled to appear in bond court Tuesday.

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article courtesy of CBSCHICAGO.com

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Hadiya Pendleton Update: 2 Men Charged In Murder Of Chicago Student  was originally published on praisecleveland.com