A 14-year-old boy has been charged in connection with a shooting in a South Side Walmart parking lot earlier this year that killed a graduate student from India and seriously injured his roommate.
According to police, the boy, whose identity has not been released because he is a juvenile, is one of the suspects who robbed Devasish Nandepu, 23, and his 22-year-old roommate at gunpoint on Jan. 22 in the 8400 block of South Holland Street.
According to police, the men were handing over their belongings when the boy began shooting them.
Nandepu was hit in the armpit and taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to police.
The 22-year-old man was shot in the chest and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition, according to police.
Nandepu and his roommates were all from India and had only met a few weeks before, according to Gogada.
According to Gogada and police, the men had taken the bus to run errands and were walking through the Walmart parking lot when a stolen Kia Forte pulled up and two people in masks jumped out and demanded the men’s cash and phones.
One of the robbers opened fire as the three men attempted to hand over their cash — a total of about $6, according to Gogada, who grabbed his phone and dialed 911 while tending to his injured friends.
“I could see blood coming from (Nandepu’s) mouth and he was losing consciousness, so I kept him awake,” said Gogada, who was unhurt.
The adolescent was apprehended in the 10700 block of South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on Monday.
He faces first-degree murder, murder/forcible felony, and armed robbery with a firearm charges.
Nandepu’s roommate, a 22-year-old man, recovered from his injuries and returned to India. Nandepu’s family traveled to America to retrieve his body.
Nandepu had enrolled in computer science classes at Governors State University in the Chicago suburbs, hoping to work for a large Silicon Valley corporation one day.
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