Three teenagers head to court Monday accused of beating a 62-year-old father of 12 to death.
According to police, one of the suspects recorded the beating with a cell phone then posted it online.
All three teenagers are charged with first-degree murder.
Police say the deadly videotaped beating took place in a Rogers Park alley in the 6300-block of North Artesian between Rosemont and Devon last Tuesday. Delfino Mora, 62, was collecting cans to help support his family when he was robbed and attacked, police said.
“I think they are heartless. Why they would do this to a guy, older guy, 62? You know, I don’t know. It is so painful,” said son Jose Mora.
Malik Jones, 16, is charged as an adult, but police are not releasing his photo because of his age. Police say he delivered the punch that killed Mora.
Nicholas Ayala, 17, and 18-year-old Anthony Malcolm are also charged.
Investigators said that Jones handed one of his two alleged accomplices his cell phone before the attack and that the phone was used to capture the incident. The suspects posted the video of the deadly beating on Facebook.
A witness spotted the video on Jones’ Facebook page and forwarded it to a second witness, who identified Jones as the person who battered him in a separate incident. Those witnesses contacted police, leading to the arrests.
One of Delfino Mora’s children identified his father on the video for investigators.
“When he was on the ground, he was already unconscious. When he fell on the ground…his head bounced off the floor,” Emmanuel Mora said.
Jones was being held without bail Monday.
Meanwhile, Delfino Mora is being remembered as a loving father and husband. Relatives are now trying to plan funeral services and return his body to Mexico. Family members say he had been working all his life to bring his children from Mexico to the United States.
