16-year-old boy charged with murder of retired CPD bomb technician

A 16-year-old boy has turned himself in and been charged with the murder of retired Chicago police officer Larry Neuman, police said Monday.

Authorities said they were still searching for a second suspect in connection with Neuman’s killing Thursday morning near his Garfield Park home. The boy, whose name was not released Monday, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, Chicago police said.

Police Chief Antoinette Ursitti said Neuman, 73, was paying someone to mow the lawn outside his house when he saw two people coming toward him. Neuman pushed the other person out of the way and exchanged gunfire with the two suspects, who shot him multiple times.

Ursitti said the department received “a wealth of information” from neighbors and former residents of the area and said a community member accompanied the teen when he turned himself in. She did not elaborate on the relationship between the suspect and the community member.

During the investigation, a detective recognized the suspect from a previous arrest, Ursitti added.

Police Commissioner Larry Snelling called Neuman’s killing a “brazen and senseless act of violence” and said Neuman “would have done everything in his power” to help a teenager who was at risk of becoming involved in a violent crime.

“Larry’s life was taken from the very people he spent his life helping,” he said.

Neuman served in the U.S. Marines, retired as the police’s longest-serving explosives technician and, after leaving the police force, spoke out against violent crime as a pastor, Snelling said.

Cook County Prosecutor Kim Foxx noted that Monday’s press conference was the second in a week where charges were filed for a crime against a minor. On Friday, 16-year-old Raysean Comer was charged with murder for shooting 7-year-old Jai’Mani Amir Rivera. Comer appeared in court Saturday for a detention hearing and will be tried as an adult.

Foxx said that while Neuman was a retiree and the other victim was a young boy, “the common thread is that other children have taken their lives as well.”

Snelling called for an “accountability factor” and asked Chicagoans to stand up for children who begin to become involved in illegal activities.

“Today’s armed robber, who is 13 or 14 years old, is tomorrow’s murderer, who is 15 or 16 years old,” he said. “If we don’t intervene now, we will be bringing murder charges against a 16-year-old.”

Snelling also said he attended a memorial service for Neuman on Sunday and saw how much respect Neuman has earned in the Garfield Park area.

“He was a hero in this community,” he said. “He was loved in this community. He was a person to be proud of.”