Overview

• Charles Leto, a 55-year-old Chicago Park District lifeguard, shot three unarmed Black teenagers at Douglass Park pool on June 26, killing 15-year-old Marjay Dotson and critically wounding 14-year-old Jeremy Herred.
• Cook County prosecutors have charged Leto with first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and aggravated discharge of a firearm and a judge ordered him held without bond pending trial.
• Authorities say surveillance video and witness accounts contradict Leto’s claim that the teens attacked him and that he fired his weapon in self-defense after they moved his bicycle.
• Leto’s previous 2023 shooting of two dogs in Lakeview—one of which was killed—has raised questions about a pattern of unjustified use of deadly force.
• Dotson’s family and community leaders have urged prosecutors to pursue hate crime charges and the Chicago Park District has launched an internal review of its firearm policies.