Leonard "L'A Capone" Anderson, a 17-year-old African American male, was tragically shot and killed on September 26, 2013, in Chicago, Illinois. Anderson had just left a recording studio in the 7000 block of South Stony Island Avenue and was walking through an alley when he was confronted and shot. He was struck in the lower back and right thigh and died a short time later. Anderson, who rapped under the moniker L'A Capone, was no stranger to gun violence and had previously been shot.
His mother, Dedra Morris, confirmed his previous encounters with gun violence.
The investigation into Anderson's death revealed that he had documented gang affiliations. Meiko Buchanan, 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his involvement in the shooting. Buchanan admitted to being the driver of a "tail car," a vehicle meant to insulate a lead car containing a gunman. He watched the shooter sneak up on Anderson and open fire with a .40 or .45 caliber handgun. Buchanan began serving his sentence at the Menard Correctional Center.
Two other individuals, Sakhee Hardy-Johnson, 17, and Michael Mays, 21, were also implicated in the crime. They gave statements admitting to getting a gun before going to the studio and being inside a parked vehicle that would run interference in the event that police officers arrived on the scene. Hardy-Johnson and Mays were charged with murder for their roles in the incident. The case highlighted the ongoing issue of gang violence in Chicago and the tragic loss of young lives to such violence.
