Family marks 13 years since the murder of honor student Hadiya Pendleton

A special event on Thursday marked 13 years since the murder of Hadiya Pendleton, the honor student who was shot and killed just days after she performed with her school band at President Obama's second inauguration parade.

Pendleton's parents led a balloon release honoring their daughter and other victims of gun violence.

Pendleton's mother, Cleopatra Cowley, said, even now, the fight for justice continues.

"Thirteen years later, we are in court as if we had never had trial before, and we've honored the fact that people believed we had the justice that we deserve, but we never have," she said.

Micheail Ward, now 32, was convicted of murder in Pendleton's death in 2018, and sentenced in 2019 to 84 years in prison, but his conviction was thrown out on appeal in 2023 after judges ruled his videotaped confession was inadmissible. He's now awaiting a new trial after the Illinois Supreme Court dismissed prosecutors' appeal of the ruling that threw out Ward's confession.

Ward's co-defendant, Kenneth Williams, who prosecutors say served as Ward's getaway driver, is serving a 42-year prison sentence for his role in Pendleton's death.