Family massacre in Chicago a Muslim “honor killing”

By Doug Hagmann —— Bio and Archives April 16, 2010

Comments | Print This | Subscribe | Email Us

It was a scene that left one of the most hardened Chicago detectives I know shaken. He described the murder scene to me last night as one of the worst he has seen in his career, and he has seen some of the worst. Responding early Wednesday morning to the scene of a multiple shooting inside a bungalow located in the 7200 block of South Mozart Street, Chicago, IL were the bloodied and lifeless bodies of Tawanda Thompson, 19, who was in the late stages of pregnancy with a girl; Keyshai Fields, 16, also four months pregnant; 3-year-old Keleasha Larry, and 7-month-old Jihad Larry. There were all methodically murdered in an early morning shooting spree allegedly at the hand of 32-year-old James A. LARRY, Tawanda Thompson’s husband. They were married less than a month. In addition to the dead, 57-year-old Leona Larry, the suspect’s mother and his 13-year-old nephew, Demond Larry were critically wounded.

Considering the unborn children, six lives were shortened by murder and two more lie in the balance. The act was particularly brutal, according to the homicide detective, who provided this author with the details of the murder scene on the condition his name not be used. He confirmed some of the published and unpublished police reports and sources, stating that the suspect shot his wife first, the bullet entering her throat. He then methodically executed the others in the house, shooting each victim in the head or face. When he realized that his pregnant wife was still alive, he turned and shot her in the head, killing her and her unborn child –a girl. And one 12-year-old girl witnessed nearly the entire event, herself narrowly escaping death by running in her pajamas to a nearby gas station for help as the suspect shot at her. At the gas station, the traumatized young girl telephoned her mother, saying that her uncle “killed everyone.” The suspect, James LARRY, was apprehended by police a short time later. He was charged yesterday with four counts of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of intentional homicide of an unborn child. More....