A 15-year-old boy who the authorities said fatally shot a postal worker at close range in Chicago over the summer was arrested in Iowa on Monday and charged with murder, the authorities said on Tuesday.
The teenager, whose name was not released, was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Chicago Police Department in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the police said. He was extradited to Chicago, where he was charged with first-degree murder in the July 19 shooting of Octavia Redmond, 48, a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service, the authorities said.
Ms. Redmond was delivering mail in the West Pullman neighborhood of Chicago, on the far South Side of the city, when the teenager shot her several times, the United States Postal Inspection Service said in a statement on Tuesday.
The teenager, who had been driving a stolen Dodge Durango, then drove off in the vehicle, the authorities said. Ms. Redmond died later at a hospital.
A spokesman for the United States Postal Inspection Service said he could not comment on the motive.
Detectives worked with the Postal Inspection Service for weeks to identify the shooter and make an arrest, the police said. They did not say how the suspect was identified.
The teenager appeared in a county juvenile court on Tuesday, and he was ordered to be held in custody, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said. He is to appear in court on Nov. 1.
It was unclear whether the teenager had a lawyer.
Ruth Mendonça, an inspector in charge of the Chicago division for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, said in a statement on Tuesday that “there is no place for this type of senseless violence.”
Brian L. Renfroe, the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said in a statement in July that Ms. Redmond had been a letter carrier for five years.
“She was a public servant doing her job when her life and future were stolen from her,” Mr. Renfroe said. “For far too long, violent crime against letter carriers has been on the rise. Shockingly, now it is not uncommon for letter carriers to be targeted, assaulted, and even murdered. This is completely unacceptable, and we need immediate change.”
The Postal Inspection Service said in July that it was offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Ms. Redmond’s case. It was unclear whether anyone had come forward to the service with information.
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