Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx became a household name almost overnight as her office dropped 16 felony charges against Jussie Smollett and sparked a national outcry.
Foxx’s response to the outrage was simply to double down, saying, “I believe that the outcome — him having to forfeit the $10,000, having to do community service, based on the allegations, and again the Class 4 felony and no (criminal) background, are an outcome that we could expect with this type of case.”
Many people pointed to Smollett’s celebrity status and political ties as part of the reason the charges were dropped. But now, thanks to one family’s story, we’re seeing Foxx’s entire concept of justice may be the real problem here.
As WLS-TV in Chicago reported, the family of murdered teen Derrion Albert dropped a shocking revelation: One of Albert’s five killers was let off the hook.
Dionte Johnson, or D.J., took part in the 2009 gang brawl that ended Albert’s life. He was the one that prosecutors say landed a punch, signing Albert’s “death certificate.” Although D.J. was only 14 at the time of the crime, prosecutors charged him in an extended jurisdiction juvenile prosecution.
Because of the murder charge, D.J. would be given a 30-year sentence for his part in the melee. But through the EJJ program, the sentence would be stayed unless he was found guilty of another felony.
“Kim Foxx kept telling us that was the best way to go, that way we have some kind of, the safety net. That way if he got in trouble he goes back, that’s what it is,” Albert’s mother, Anjanette Albert, said.
But in 2015, D.J. ran afoul of the law again.
Charged with the felony of aggravated fleeing after a police chase, D.J. was facing the full 30 years in prison, and Albert’s family was finally looking at some semblance of justice for their murdered family member.
The process went well and D.J. was convicted of the felony on Nov. 8, 2016. After Kim Foxx won her state’s attorney race on Election Day, Albert’s family received a call.
“Kim Foxx decided not to go any further with this, just, it’s over,” Anjanette Albert said. “She’s going to drop it and he’s going to get out and there was nothing that we could do.”
“They call us down there and tell us that the state’s attorney decided to not pursue the motion,” Albert’s grandfather said. “One of the gentlemen said that it was determined that he had been rehabilitated. My face almost fell off my head. I could not believe that the guy actually said that.”
“I would just look her straight in her eye and ask her why? Why would she do that?”
Anjanette Albert had a different reaction.
“I don’t have anything to say to Kim Foxx. The person that I thought that she was, her heart, her kindness the way that she was with us in court, that’s, I don’t never want to see her again,” she said. “Never.”
When asked for a statement, the response given by a Foxx spokesperson read like a slap in the face.
“Based on the Class 4 Felony, which carries a sentencing range of probation or up to three years in prison, it was not in the interest of justice to pursue a 30 year prison sentence in this case,” the statement read, according to WLS-TV.
A convicted murderer was given a second chance, likely because of his young age, with a 30-year punishment hanging over his head if he fouled up again. When he did just that, he was given a slap on the wrist and let go “in the interest of justice.”
With this, Kim Foxx is only cementing Chicago’s bloody nickname, “Chiraq,” a reference to the rampant death in Saddam Hussein’s old domain. When murderers are allowed to walk free, nobody wins. And in the seemingly lawless chaos of Chicago, this is only throwing fuel on the fire.
Conservative Tribune, a section of The Western Journal, has reached out to Kim Foxx for comment via Twitter but has not yet received a response. We will update this article if and when we do.
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