A Chicago area man was convicted of murder in the case of a Facebook fight between teens taken too far. Donnell Flora, 27, was found guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery for providing his niece with a gun that led to the shooting of 14-year-old Endia Martin in April 2014. According to police, Martin posted death threats on Facebook towards Flora’s niece who is not identified because she is a juvenile. The threats stated, “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to put you in the ground next to your dad.”
The unidentified 16-year-old girl told her uncle that she was going to go over the girl’s house and instead of trying to defuse the situation, he gave her a 38 caliber handgun. The teen, who is now 16, used the weapon to shot Martin dead in front of a witness. Prosecutors in the case argued that if it was not for Flora giving the teen the gun, Martin would still be alive today. Assistant State Attorney Barbara Bailey stated, “He became her provider — the provider of a handgun. When there were about 1,000 other options that could’ve been taken by an adult, he chose to continue the cycle.” Flora himself was a victim of gun violence in a 2010 shooting that has left him confined to a wheelchair. He contends that he was just concerned for his niece’s safety when he gave her the gun. The jury took just 2 hours to convict Flora on the murder charges and his defense team intends to appeal the conviction. According to defense lawyer Joel Brodsky, “Second-degree murder or child endangerment” would’ve been more appropriate for his client.
