Crime & Safety
Chicago Teen Admits on Snapchat to Killing His Friend
He recorded his confession while sitting in the back of a police car, according to authorities.
Chicago, IL — Snapchat users are watching 10 billion videos a day now — and that includes one in which a Chicago teen confessed to killing his friend.
"I killed Chris and now I’m going to kill myself," Anthony Mendoza cried into the Snapchat app as he sat in the back of a police squad car, according to the Cook County state's attorney's office.
An increasingly popular social app, Snapchat lets people record brief, ephemeral video messages seen by friends and followers.
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One June 3, that's how first word of Christian Bandemer's death spread among his friends.
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Bandemer, 16, was struck in the chest.
Bandemer's cousin was outside and rushed in after hearing the shot, and he found the boy dead and Mendoza with blood on himself, according to police. Prosecutors said Mendoza then threatened the 20-year-old cousin and told him "not to snitch."
Police said Mendoza put the weapon in a box and hid the firearm in tall weeds near an abandoned house, and upon his return to his own home, he tried to pretend he didn't know what happened, but officers found the weapon.
Bandemer's mom arrived at the home in the 3500 block of South Parnell and broke down in tears.
Bandemer's family has been raising money via a GoFundMe account. In the five days since his killing, they've raised almost $5,000.
"Our Christian was taken from us way too soon from a senseless tragedy!," they said. "We can't express enough the danger that exist when guns get into the hands of the wrong people. He lost his life over this and will be forever in our hearts. We are hoping our loss will bring awareness to the growing epidemic of gun violence."
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Police initially suspected the shooting was an accident.
On Sunday, Mendoza's defense attorney Mike Johnson, in court with Mendoza for his bail hearing, said the shooting still should be considered an accident, noting Mendoza had “no animosity toward” Bandemer, reports the Chicago Tribune.
A judge set his bail at $250,000.
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