05-07-2014, 04:17 PM
"MEH, HE AIN'T GOIN' NOWHERE"...."HEY, WHERE'D HE GO?"
![[Image: 140507093119-mark-cherry-mugshot-story-top.jpg]](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140507093119-mark-cherry-mugshot-story-top.jpg)
For three months, Mark Cherry ^ lay in a Chicago-area hospital room, close to death.
He suffered a gunshot wound during a home invasion in Gary, Indiana -- a crime he is accused of committing, and in which he allegedly shot and killed a 22-year old man.
Cherry was charged with murder, attempted murder, criminal confinement, and battery with a deadly weapon.
In late February, fully recovered, Cherry discharged himself and walked out of the hospital.
"Why wasn't he handcuffed? Why didn't you have a police officer at the door waiting for him to get released?" Lourdes deJesus Correa, mother of the victim, Rolando Correa, told CNN affiliate WLS Tuesday.
The hospital told CNN it can't hold a patient against their will, and that without prior written consent, can't alert another person of a patient's pending discharge. Privacy laws are in place to prevent that type of information from being shared, a hospital spokesman said.
Gary police say that they have no jurisdiction in Illinois, and that prevented them from having someone guarding Cherry. "I don't know what a better scenario would be," King, the police spokeswoman, said, adding that "we really don't know who is responsible" for Cherry slipping through the cracks.
Gary police could have asked the Cook County Sheriff's Office in Illinois to monitor the suspect. That wasn't done. "Unfortunately, our investigators assumed because he was unconscious that the hospital would give the detective a call before he was released," Chief Wade Ingram told WLS.
Police are searching for the murder suspect, though there are few clues other than he was discharged from the hospital, King said.
It's an emotional blow for a family that's already lost so much. "It's like our whole family is falling apart due to this. We are falling apart," Lourdes deJesus Correa said. "Please, I just want justice for my son. For my family. That's all I want."
Full story: http://us.cnn.com/2014/05/07/justice/ind...?hpt=ju_c1
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Jesus, what a bureaucratic mess -- hope this guy is found soon. He's already been on the lam for over 2 months.
For three months, Mark Cherry ^ lay in a Chicago-area hospital room, close to death.
He suffered a gunshot wound during a home invasion in Gary, Indiana -- a crime he is accused of committing, and in which he allegedly shot and killed a 22-year old man.
Cherry was charged with murder, attempted murder, criminal confinement, and battery with a deadly weapon.
In late February, fully recovered, Cherry discharged himself and walked out of the hospital.
"Why wasn't he handcuffed? Why didn't you have a police officer at the door waiting for him to get released?" Lourdes deJesus Correa, mother of the victim, Rolando Correa, told CNN affiliate WLS Tuesday.
The hospital told CNN it can't hold a patient against their will, and that without prior written consent, can't alert another person of a patient's pending discharge. Privacy laws are in place to prevent that type of information from being shared, a hospital spokesman said.
Gary police say that they have no jurisdiction in Illinois, and that prevented them from having someone guarding Cherry. "I don't know what a better scenario would be," King, the police spokeswoman, said, adding that "we really don't know who is responsible" for Cherry slipping through the cracks.
Gary police could have asked the Cook County Sheriff's Office in Illinois to monitor the suspect. That wasn't done. "Unfortunately, our investigators assumed because he was unconscious that the hospital would give the detective a call before he was released," Chief Wade Ingram told WLS.
Police are searching for the murder suspect, though there are few clues other than he was discharged from the hospital, King said.
It's an emotional blow for a family that's already lost so much. "It's like our whole family is falling apart due to this. We are falling apart," Lourdes deJesus Correa said. "Please, I just want justice for my son. For my family. That's all I want."
Full story: http://us.cnn.com/2014/05/07/justice/ind...?hpt=ju_c1
===================================
Jesus, what a bureaucratic mess -- hope this guy is found soon. He's already been on the lam for over 2 months.