Rush to Weis: "Who Killed Jahmeshia Conner?"

CHICAGO –Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-IL01) has asked Chicago Police Department Superintendent Jody Weis what he has done over the last 12 months to find the killer of 12-year-old Jahmeshia Conner. On Saturday, November 13th at 11 a.m. he will lead a march and prayer vigil in commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of the child from a bus stop in Englewood. He will be joined by community leaders and the child's family.

Marchers will walk from 63rd and Racine to 63rd and Ashland, the last known route the Conner child took before she vanished.  A news conference will be held near the location where the girl was found at 6400 S. Marshfield.

In a strongly worded letter to Weis, Rep. Rush accused the police department of being "silent" noting, "The child's family and the community cannot find closure or comfort until someone is brought to justice," he said.  "Since the Chicago Police Department has been virtually silent on this case, I am requesting a full report on what the CPD has done over the past 12 months to find the killer of this young girl."

Conner, a fifth-grader at O'Toole Elementary School, was reported missing by her mother on Sunday, November 15, 2009, and despite pleas from the family to the contrary the police classified her as a runaway and did not issue an Amber Alert.  The system would have triggered valuable media attention in the case. The girl was found dead two weeks later in an alley one block from her home. Authorities later said she had been raped and strangled. No one has been arrested and charged with the crime.

"Who killed Jahmeshia Conner?  She was somebody's child," Rep. Rush wrote. "Let us do all we can to bring justice to her memory."

Download the Congressman's letter

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