North Lawndale group demands answers, changes from Chicago Park District after lifeguard charged with shooting teens
The North Lawndale Chamber of Commerce is demanding an apology and accountability from the Chicago Park District, after a lifeguard allegedly shot two teens, killing one of them outside the Douglass Park pool last week.
Police have said 55-year-old Charles Leto shot and killed 15-year-old Marjay Dotson and injured 14-year-old Jeremy Herred near the Douglass Park pool on Thursday.
Jeremy, who is a cousin of Laquan McDonald – the teen murdered by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke in 2014 – remained in critical condition Wednesday night at Stroger Hospital, but his family said they are excited with his progress since he was shot in the neck.
They said he has brain activity, opened his eyes, and showed the ability to comprehend someone is in the room.
"They have since been able to since turn the breathing machine down, so it is not doing 100% of the breathing for him," said his great uncle, Rev. Marvin Hunter.
Park district officials said Leto is no longer an employee in the wake of the shooting. He had been placed on unpaid leave the day after the shooting, and the district swiftly moved to fire him, but he resigned to avoid termination. He has been placed on the district's "do not hire" list.
Now the North Lawndale Chamber of Commerce is asking for more from the park district.
The chamber has come out with a petition that says the park district failed the community. In that petition, they demand a list of eight items from the district, including foot patrol security around the park and surrounding areas, a community liaison at the Douglass Park pool to work with staff and families, a full audit and transparency about park district procurement contracts, and consistent mandatory background checks from the park district.
Robinson and Hunter said, with these actions, Douglass Park and other North Lawndale parks would be safer.
"It should not be a place where we go and die," Hunter said.
CBS News Investigators spoke with a Lakeview neighbor who said Leto shot two of her dogs and killed one in 2023, leading to a standoff with a police SWAT team.
Leto was not charged for shooting the dogs, after police determined he shot them in fear of his own life, so that incident did not show up on his background check at the park district.
"Nowhere in the parks hiring system or background check did that show a red flag to say maybe he's not the best person to put around our children if we can't have him around dogs," North Lawndale Chamber of Commerce president Dinita Robinson said.
Leto is being held in Cook County Jail while he awaits trial.
