Chicago Woman Arrested on Federal Weapons Charges for Giving a Loaded Gun to a Minor for Use in a Murder
ILLINOIS — A federal indictment charges a Chicago woman with giving a loaded .38 Special revolver to a minor, knowing that the minor would use it to commit a violent crime.
Vandetta Redwood, 34, is charged with one count of transferring a firearm to a juvenile while knowing that the juvenile intended to use it in a crime of violence, and one count of possession of a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school zone.
She pleaded not guilty during her arraignment today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez. Redwood was ordered held in federal custody until a detention hearing.
“The Chicago Police Department is relentlessly focused on targeting guns and the offenders that use them to victimize our communities,” said Chicago Police Interim Superintendent John Escalante. “We will continue to use the full weight of our state and federal partners to send a very clear message that gun violence is not going to be tolerated on the streets of Chicago.”
According to the indictment, Redwood gave the loaded revolver to the minor on April 28, 2014. The indictment contends that Redwood knew the minor intended to use the gun to commit a crime of violence, namely first-degree murder and other firearm-related offenses. Redwood possessed the gun within 1,000 feet of two elementary schools on Chicago’s West Side – Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School and Visitation Catholic School, according to the indictment.
The 2014 slaying of 14-year-old Endia Martin gained national attention because authorities said it stemmed from a Facebook feud that two girls were having over a boy, WQAD reported.
The charge of transferring a gun to a minor for use in a crime of violence carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. Possessing a gun within 1,000 feet of a school is punishable by up to five years.
