Bail Denied In Facebook Live Torture Case: 'Where Is Your Sense Of Decency?'

CHICAGO, IL — A Cook County judge on Friday ordered the four people accused of torturing an 18-year-old mentally disabled man and broadcasting their horrifying actions live on Facebook to be held without bail.

The disturbing Facebook video has made headlines worldwide and shows several young African-American adults tormenting the Crystal Lake teen who suffers from schizophrenia and attention deficit disorder, DNAinfo.com reports. The teen was held against his will in a Chicago apartment for four to five hours on Tuesday.

The four made their initial court appearances on Friday at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse in Chicago.

• Jordan Hill, 18, of Carpentersville
• Tesfaye Cooper, 18, of Chicago
• Brittany Covington, 28, of Chicago
• Tanishia Covington, 24, of Chicago

Those in the courtroom on Friday cheered when Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil denied the bail for all four, according to NBC Chicago.

"Where was your sense of decency?" Ciesil asked those accused in the case.

On Thursday, all four were charged with aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Hill, Cooper and Brittany Covington also were charged with residential burglary, and Hill faces additional robbery and possession of a stolen motor vehicle charges, the report added.

During the initial court appearance on Friday, prosecutors tacked on an additional hate crime charge for all four of the accused, stating the crimes were based on the victim's mental disability and his race, according to NBC Chicago.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters during a press conference Thursday that there was never any question that hate crime charges would be brought against the suspects. Area North Detectives Commander Kevin Duffin said Thursday the department sought hate crime charges because of the victim's diminished mental capacity, the racial comments by the suspects and the fact that the victim was tied up.

"Let me be very clear: The actions in that video are reprehensible and, along with racism, have no place in the City of Chicago or anywhere else, for that matter, regardless of their race, gender, state of mental health or any other identifying factor," Johnson said.

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In the video that was originally posted on Facebook, the victim is seen bound in duct tape and being tormented by his African-American captors, who also cut his clothes and hair. Comments from the captors, such as "F--- Donald Trump" and "F--- white people," can be heard on the video.

A second video that was posted online shows the victim forced to walk on all fours and drink water from a toilet bowl. His captors also coerce him into shouting, "F--- Donald Trump" in the video.

Whether the victim supported the president-elect had nothing to do with why the man was held hostage and tormented, Duffin said Thursday.

The victim’s family held a brief press conference Thursday night in Crystal Lake. The victim’s brother-in-law, David Boyd, told reporters the teen was "doing as well as he could be at this time.”

• Torture Victim's Brother-in-Law Says Family Trying to Stick Together After Ordeal
  

Boyd, who spoke on behalf of the family at the press conference, also thanked the public for their support

"We're so grateful for all the prayers and efforts that led to the safe return of our brother," he said.

Asked if the family had viewed the video, Boyd responded, "Everyone's seen the video."

“This should never happen,” he said.

The Timeline

According to Duffin, the victim was dropped off at a Streamwood McDonald's on Saturday, Dec. 31, where he met Hill, an acquaintance who attended school in Aurora with the victim. Hill picked up the victim in a van the Carpenterville teen had stolen from Streamwood, and the two were going to spend that night at Hill's house.

However, Hill and the victim, who was unaware the van was stolen, spent the next two days driving around Chicago's West Side, visiting friends, Duffin said. On Tuesday, Jan. 3, the two ended up at the apartment in the 3300 block of West Lexington Avenue where sisters Brittany and Tanishia Covington live.
More Patch Coverage

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It wasn't until several hours after the victim's arrival at the Covingtons' apartment that the horrific actions against him began. According to Duffin, the victim told police that he and Hill were in a "play fight" when the Covington sisters became aggravated. The situation escalated from there, Duffin said.

"That's when [the victim's] mental capacity came in, and that's primarily one of the reasons they were charged with a hate crime," Duffin said, but he didn't elaborate on how the victim's "mental capacity" demonstrated itself.

Eventually, the victim was bound in duct tape, and he was kept like that for about 30 minutes, Duffin said. The entire time he was held hostage and brutalized lasted about four or five hours, he added.
At around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Covingtons' downstairs neighbor complained about the noise being made, and the women left to confront the resident. That's when the victim was able to escape.
Police officers responding to a complaint from the Convingtons' neighbor saw the victim walking outside, injured, confused and dressed in an inside-out tank top worn backwards. An ambulance was called for the victim, and the investigation began.

Although reports indicated that the offenders tried to extort money from the victim's family, Duffin said he couldn't confirm that, adding that the detectives working that part of the case had "passed out" from exhaustion and he didn't have the heart to wake them.

The victim is currently back with his parents, Duffin said.

The Charged

Tanishia Covington is the only one charged who has a previous adult criminal record, according to the Sun-Times. In 2005, she was convicted of shoplifting, and she pleaded guilty in April of 2016 for failing to appear at her court date on a criminal trespass to a vehicle charge, the report added.

Before charges were filed Thursday, Priscilla Covington, the sisters' grandmother, spoke about Brittany, who had been identified from the video, to The Associated Press. She told the news agency that she had raised Brittany and was shocked about what had happened.

"I'm so upset, my head is about to bust open," Priscilla Covington told the AP. "I don't know if someone influenced her. ... She had her ups and down. [She] was a good person. I'm so confused."

Although CPD has said Hill is from Carpentersville, that village's police department released a statement Thursday, saying it couldn't confirm Hill's residency there. The Carpentersville Police Department is not involved in the investigation, but officials have reached out to the Chicago Police Department.

As to why the offenders put the video of their alleged assault online, Duffin said, "I can't understand why anyone would post it on Facebook."

UPDATED (3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6)

More via the Chicago Sun-Times and DNAinfo.com

Brittany Covington (main photo), Jordan Hill (top), Tanishia Covington and Tesfaye Cooper are charged and accused of kidnapping and tormenting a mentally disabled white man. (photos via Chicago Police Department)

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Amie Schaenzer contributed to this article