Dreyana Grooms | Homicide Watch Chicagohttp://homicides.suntimes.com/suspects/dreyana-grooms/Latest news about Dreyana Groomsen-usSat, 27 Sep 2014 12:30:14 -0500Two teens charged with murder in shooting death of Walter Neely near Chicago Police Headquartershttp://homicides.suntimes.com/2014/09/27/two-teens-charged-with-murder-in-shooting-death-of-walter-neely-near-chicago-police-headquarters/<img src="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/chicago/files/2014/08/WalterNeely2-150x150.jpg" alt="Walter Neely / Photo from Instagram" width="150" height="150" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-7661" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Walter Neely / Photo from Instagram</p> <p>BY MICHAEL LANSU<br /> Homicide Watch Chicago Editor</p> <p>A 16-year-old boy and girl have each been charged with murder in the August shooting death of artist <a href="http://homicides.suntimes.com/victims/walter-neely/">Walter Neely</a> near Chicago Police Headquarters.</p> <p><a href="http://homicides.suntimes.com/suspects/kenneth-brown/">Kenneth Brown</a> is accused of fatally shooting Neely, 25, about 11:35 p.m. Aug. 15 in the 3400 block of South Indiana Avenue -- about a block from Chicago Police Headquarters, authorities said.</p> <p>“A policeman could have been looking out the windows over there and actually see who got shot,” Neely's mother, LaDonna Coney, had said.</p> <p>Neely had two small children, Tiyanna and Trevion, his mother said. <a href="http://homicides.suntimes.com/2014/08/22/family-artist-walter-neely-fatally-shot-during-rare-night-out/">He was out getting milk for his daughter when he was shot</a>, his step-grandmother, Lula Coney, had said.<br /> <span id="more-8262"></span><br /> <iframe src="http://homicides.suntimes.com/api/v1/homicides/686.html" width="100%" height="350" frameborder=0></iframe></p> <p>LaDonna Coney said she her son was a natural artist, and she wanted him to enroll at the Art Institute of Chicago.</p> <p>“He drew animated characters, and he drew Chicago,” LaDonna Coney said. “He wasn’t a nine to five guy, and he could really draw with those markers, stencils and charcoal.”</p> <p>Neely had prior success in school and graduated from Phillips Academy High School in Bronzeville a year early, his mother said.</p> <p>As a younger man, Neely pleaded guilty to a 2010 drug charge and was sentenced to probation, which he completed with satisfaction, according to court records. He was currently awaiting trial on a 2013 felony gun charge, according to court records.</p> <p>“He is an ex offender but he was really on the road to getting himself together,” his mother said. “He didn’t walk the streets like that anymore. I never thought my son would die on these streets, he was smart and he knew people in the streets.”</p> <p>Brown, of the 3800 block of South Michigan Avenue, was identified as the shooter in a photo array and was arrested Friday, authorities said. He was charged as an adult with murder for allegedly pulling the trigger, police said said.</p> <p>The 16-year-old girl, <a href="http://homicides.suntimes.com/suspects/dreyana-grooms/">Dreyana Grooms</a> of the 2700 block of South Dearborn Street, was also charged as an adult with murder, authorities said. Her role in the killing was not immediately known.</p> <p>Both teens are expected to appear in court for a bond hearing Saturday. Police were not releasing their names because they are juveniles.</p> <p>-- Contributing: Angelique White</p> Michael LansuSat, 27 Sep 2014 12:30:14 -0500http://homicides.suntimes.com/2014/09/27/two-teens-charged-with-murder-in-shooting-death-of-walter-neely-near-chicago-police-headquarters/Walter NeelyKenneth BrownDreyana Grooms