14-year-old girl shoots and kills fellow teen after Facebook fight over a boy

Endia Martin, a high school freshman from Chicago, was shot in the back and left for dead on the ground   

A 14-year-old Chicago girl has been charged with murder as a juvenile in the killing of another girl her age sparked by a romantic rivalry. 

Police spokesman Thomas Sweeney says Endia Martin, 14, was walking home from school Monday in the hardscrabble Back of the Yards neighborhood on the city's South Side when she ran into her nemesis, who pulled a gun and opened fire. 

Martin was rushed to University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the back.

The second victim, who was shot in the arm, was taken to St Bernard Hospital and listed in stable condition.

Martin, a freshman at Tilden Career Community Academy High School, was on her way home at around 4.30pm when she encountered a group of girls from another school in the 900 block of west Garfield Boulevard, Chicago Tribune reported. 

According to police, Martin exchanged some words with the teens, one of whom then allegedly pulled out a gun and started shooting.

The 14-year-old was struck in the back and left for dead on the sidewalk. Her 16-year-old companion was able to flee and hide behind a house before seeking medical attention for a gunshot wound to the arm.

Endia Martin's stepfather, Kent Kennedy, said the teen was active in sports, loved to dance and dreamed of visiting Paris and Rome. 

The victim’s family believe the dispute that resulted in their daughter's slaying may have started on Facebook, but police would not confirm that.

‘They had words and she gunned our daughter down,’ Kennedy said. ‘For what? What reason would another girl gun down another child?’

Mr Kennedy added that they had only recently transferred Endia to Tilden Academy from another school located far from home, hoping to keep her safe. 

‘No place in Chicago is safe for teenagers nowadays,’ he said. 

Police are not releasing the suspect's name because of her age. They also arrested the girl's 24-year-old uncle and a 17-year-old boy, who also face charges in the shooting.

Mr Kennedy, a retired U.S. Marine, and his wife, a nursing assistant, have two other children. They insist that Endia was a good teen and not a ' gang banger.' 

‘No child needs to be gunned down like a dog in the street. Nobody, period,’ Kent Kennedy told the station WLS-TV.

The 14-year-old was hoping to join the U.S. Navy after high school to see the world, her parents said. 

‘She will never graduate from high school or get to go to prom, none of that. She was mapping out a plan with her life,’ Mr Kennedy told Chicago Sun-Times.