'The parents failed those kids, but you can't say that': What McDonald's CEO texted Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot after fatal shooting of girl, 7, in back of her father's car at one of his drive-thrus and cop-killing of boy, 13
In newly revealed text messages to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the CEO of McDonald's appeared to blame the parents of two children who were shot and killed in the city, which is experiencing a dramatic spike in violent crime.
CEO Chris Kempczinski sent the controversial message to Lightfoot on April 19, after meeting with the Democrat at McDonald's headquarters in Chicago, texts revealed in a public records request show.
The message references the slaying of seven-year-old Jaslyn Adams, who was shot dead as she sat in her father's car at a McDonald's drive-thru in an apparent gangland ambush targeting the dad, and the police killing of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, who dropped a gun to the ground less than a second before a cop fatally shot him during a foot chase at 2.30am.
Kempczinski's text calls them 'tragic shootings' and adds: 'With both, the parents failed those kids which I know is something you can't say. Even harder to fix.'
The CEO of McDonald's Chris Kempczinski appeared to blame the parents of two children who were shot and killed in the city, which is experiencing a dramatic spike in violent crime
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot privately thanked Kempczinski in response to his text message, but publicly she disavowed his remarks
The message references the slaying of seven-year-old Jaslyn Adams (left), who was shot dead as she sat in her father's car at a McDonald's drive-thru in an apparent gangland ambush targeting the dad, and the police killing of 13-year-old Adam Toledo (right)
Lightfoot responded: 'Thanks, Chris. Great to see you in person. Such a great work space, and your folks were terrific. I said to Joe I would be happy to reach out to the operator to offer support. He and his team members have got to be traumatized. Terrible tragedy. Thanks again, Chris.'
The messages were revealed in a public records request from independent researcher Michael Kessler, who is investigating a separate police matter in Portland, Oregon in collaboration with Lucy Parson Labs.
In an internal memo to McDonald's US corporate employees seen by DailyMail.com, Kempczinski said that his remarks were emotional and regrettable.
'When I wrote this, I was thinking through my lens as a parent and reacted viscerally. But I have not walked in the shoes of Adam's or Jaslyn's family and so many others who are facing a very different reality,' Kempczinski wrote in the memo.
'Not taking the time to think about this from their viewpoint was wrong, and lacked the empathy and compassion I feel for these families. This is a lesson that I will carry with me,' he added.
Mayor Lightfoot disavowed the sentiment in Kempczinski's text message in a statement through a spokesperson.
'As the Mayor has said previously, families do everything they can — moms, dads, grandparents — to love and support their children, and tragedies can still happen,' the statement to the Chicago Tribune said. 'Victim shaming has no place in this conversation.'
The shooting deaths of Jaslyn and Adam both made national headlines, and both of their parents have had to respond to public scrutiny over what role they may have played in how the tragic events unfolded.
'When I wrote this, I was thinking through my lens as a parent and reacted viscerally. But I have not walked in the shoes of Adam's or Jaslyn's family and so many others who are facing a very different reality,' Kempczinski wrote in an internal memo
Jaslyn's father Jontae Adams, 29, has admitted knowing that he was a potential target for gang retaliation, but didn't think anything would occur on the day he took her to get McDonald's.
Prosecutors say that Jaslyn and her father were in a McDonald's drive-thru in Homan Square on April 18 when three men pulled up in a silver Audi and riddled their vehicle with at least 28 bullets. Jontae Adams was shot once and injured, Jaslyn was hit multiple times and killed.
'My daughter wanted McDonald's. I tried to Uber McDonald's,' Jontae Adams said in an interview with WCGI-FM, referring to the food delivery service. 'But my baby wanted to see me.'
'As far as my actions or my past, maybe it had something to do with it. But I was a father the day my daughter died. That's all I remember being. I don't remember gang-banging. I don't remember what led to it,' he continued.
'I'd do it again. My baby wanted McDonald's, and I would take her to McDonald's again. Nothing is going to stop me from being a father and putting a smile on my baby's face.
Lewis is charged in the killing of Jaslyn Adams, left, who was shot April 18 while sitting in her father’s car at a McDonald’s drive-thru on the city’s West Side, Brown said. Her father, Jontae Adams, right, was seriously wounded in the attack
Police investigate a crime scene where Jontae Adams, 28, and his daughter Jaslyn, 7, were shot
Arrested in Jaslyn's slaying were (left to right) Devontay Anderson, 22, Demond Goudy, 21, and Marion Lewis, 18
'I hold myself accountable for making stupid decisions when I was younger, but not for being a father. I have nothing but good memories with my baby,' the grieving father explained.
Arrested in Jaslyn's slaying were Devontay Anderson, 22, Demond Goudy, 21, and Marion Lewis, 18, who was shot and injured by police and taken into custody after he crashed his vehicle trying to elude officers, and then tried to steal a family's car on the Eisenhower Expressway.
All three are being held without bond in the Cook County Jail.
Meanwhile, Adam Toledo's death in a police shooting has been the subject of intense factual, legal and moral disputes.
At around 2.30am on March 29, CPD Officer Eric Stillman was pursuing Adam on foot in Little Village after gunshots were fired nearby.
Authorities have said that a gun detection alerted police to a spot where a gun had been fired several times.
When cops arrived, an officer spotted the boy and 21-year-old Ruben Roman, the man they later said had fired the weapon, and chased them.
This video police body cam image released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) on April 15, 2021, shows a frame grab of 13 year-old Adam Toledo on the ground after he was shot by police in Chicago, Illinois on March 29, 2021
At around 2.30am on March 29, CPD Officer Eric Stillman was pursuing Adam on foot in Little Village when he fired the fatal shot. COPA cleared Stillman of wrongdoing
They said Adam, who had apparently been given the gun by the man after he fired it, ran into an alley.
Body camera video showed a portion of the foot chase, and the instant when Officer Stillman shot the teen in the chest less than a second after he either dropped or tossed the gun aside.
A Cook County prosecutor was later forced to apologize after wrongly implying in court that the gun was in the teen's hand when the fatal shot was fired.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), which reviews police shootings, did not recommend that the officer who shot Adam be relieved of his police powers.
After facing questions about why Adam was out so late, and after Mayor Lightfoot implied in public remarks that the boy was involved with gangs, the teen's family responded at a press conference in May.
'What I really want is to have Adam back, and we can't do that,' mother Betty Toledo wrote in a speech that was read on her behalf.
Esmaraldo Toledo, 24, right, sister of police shooting victim 13-year-old Adam Toledo sheds tears as family attorney Adeena Weiss-Ortiz speaks comforts her during a press conference
'We can try to help other families protect their sons from the temptations that took Adam into the street that night, the night he was killed.'
'He was a little kid, he made one mistake, and everyone is just judging him and assuming things from the last few moments and minutes of his life,' said Esmeralda Toledo, the boy's 24-year-old sister.
Nobody, she said, 'is deserving the way he died or the bad, negative things being said about him.'
Kempczinski's leaked text message drew strong reactions, including from Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, who told the Tribune the remarks were 'disrespectful'.
'He doesn't know what it is to be poor. People like him look at our community like garbage and at the same time want to sell us their products,' Enriquez told the newspaper. 'We give a lot of money to his corporation. He should put that money back into our community.'
Chicago, like many other cities across the country, has grappled with soaring violent crime since last spring.
Through the end of October, the city has recorded 678 murders, according to CPD data, a 3 percent increase from last year and 57 percent jump from 2019.
It puts the city on pace for the worst year of murders since 1996.
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