(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — It certainly seemed like a rare sight: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Police Supt. David Brown and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx standing together Wednesday as they announced murder charges in the shooting death of an 8-year-old girl.
At various times over the past several months, the Chicago officials have engaged in a war of words with Foxx’s office — and the separate court administration — as violence has continued unabated.
Foxx insisted they’re all on the same page when it comes to fighting crime.
“We have been working collaboratively with the Chicago Police Department on cases that make the news and others that don’t,” she said at a news conference.
Brown echoed the sentiment, pointing out that much like people in the Little Village community worked with investigators to identify Melissa Ortega's killers so, too, must public officials cooperate.
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The three have sometimes been at odds over how and whether Foxx’s office prosecutes some suspects. More broadly, Chicago officials have accused courts of leaning too heavily on electronic monitoring for dangerous offenders, although court officials disagree.
Wednesday’s announcement of a major break in Melissa Ortega’s murder came four days after the elementary school student was inadvertently shot during a gang-related ambush. The killing stoked outrage in Little Village and across Chicago. Two suspects, including a 16-year-old boy, are charged with the girl's murder.