Facebook Live Torture Case Defendant Charged In Jail Fight

CHICAGO, IL — One of the teen defendants who allegedly tied up and tormented a mentally challenged Crystal Lake man and streamed video footage of the torture on Facebook early last year faces new charges stemming from a recent jail brawl, according to the Daily Herald. Jordan Hill, 19, was charged with battery nearly a month after a fight involving three other inmates at the Cook County Jail, the report added.

According to the Cook County Sheriff's Office, Hill and two other inmates are accused of attacking and injuring another inmate in the Dec. 8 jail skirmish, the report stated. The misdemeanor charge was filed Sunday, Jan. 7, and the count was revealed at a status hearing Wednesday, Jan. 10, dealing with the original case from January of 2017, the report added.

Hill was one of four people who was arrested and accused of binding the then-18-year-old victim with duct tape before beating and taunting him for hours Jan. 3 in a West Side apartment. While captive, the victim, who is white, had his clothes and hair cut and was forced to drink water from a toilet bowl. The defendants, who are black, can be heard shouting, "F--- Donald Trump!" and "F--- white people!" in the video that captured the brutal incident, which was streamed live on Facebook.

The victim was able to escape his tormentors when another tenant in the apartment building complained about the noise being made. Chicago police officers responding to the complaint saw the victim walking outside — hurt, confused and dressed in an inside-out tank top worn backwards — and an investigation into the incident was started, leading to the defendants' arrests.

More Patch Coverage:

• 4 Arrested in Binding, Torturing of Mentally Challenged Man: Police
• Judge To Facebook Live Torture Case Defendants: 'Where Is Your Sense Of Decency?'
• Victim's Brother-in-Law Says Family Trying to Stick Together After Ordeal
• Chicago Torture-Kidnap Case: Disgust Over Attack, Support for Victim, Cause for Conservatives
• GoFundMe Samaritan Wants Facbook Video Victim to Know Good People Are Out There
• Cameras Banned for Hearings in Facebook Live Torture Case
• Facebook Live Torture Case Defendants Plead Not Guilty
• Bail Set For All 4 Defendants In Facebook Live Torture Case
• Teen Takes Plea Deal In Hate Crime

The four defendants face a litany of charges stemming from the alleged attack, including aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and a hate crime. Besides Hill, the other three people arrested and charged are Tesfaye Cooper, 19, and Brittany Covington, 19, and Tanishia Covington, 25, sisters who resided at the West Lexington Avenue apartment.

Along with the attack, Hill also has been blamed with setting in motion the disturbing events of Jan. 3 by picking up the victim in a stolen van New Year's Eve of 2016. The two teens had been classmates at a school in Aurora, and the judge in the case has accused Hill of using that past relationship to gain — and then betray — the victim's trust. After spending a couple days driving around Chicago's West Side, Hill and the victim eventually ended up at the West Lexington Avenue apartment of two of the defendants.

Initially, all four defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges in February. But last month, Brittany Covington struck a deal with prosecutors, and she pleaded guilty to the hate crime, aggravated battery and intimidation charges.

In exchange for changing her plea, Covington was put on probation for four years, and she could be required to testify against the other defendants. The kidnapping count against her also was dropped, but she is prohibited from using social media for four years and must complete 200 hours of community service.

More via the Daily Herald

Jordan Hill (Photo via Chicago Police Department)