Second 14-year-old charged in fatal shooting of Chicago grad student in Walmart parking lot

CHICAGO - A second 14-year-old boy has been charged in a shooting at a South Side Walmart parking lot that killed a graduate student from India and seriously wounded his roommate earlier this year, a law enforcement source said.

Devasish Nandepu, 23, had been in Chicago less than two weeks when he was gunned down in a robbery on Jan. 22 in the 8400 block of South Holland Avenue. His 22-year-old roommate was struck in the chest.

Nandepu and his roommates were all from India and had met only a few weeks earlier, Lakshman Gogada said. They had taken the bus to run errands and were walking to the Walmart through the parking lot when a stolen Kia Forte pulled up and two people in masks jumped out and demanded the men’s cash and phones, according to Gogada and police.

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The men were handing over their belongings when the boy started shooting them, police said.

Nandepu was struck in the armpit and was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

The 22-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was listed in critical condition, police said. Nandepu's 22-year-old roommate recovered from his injuries and has returned to India. Nandepu’s family came to the United States to retrieve his body.

The 14-year-old was arrested Monday in the 1200 block of West 83rd Street.

He was charged with:

• First-degree murder
• Murder with strong probability of death
• Murder/forcible felony
• Armed robbery with a firearm
• Aggravated unlawful use of a weapon

His alleged accomplice was arrested in early March in the 10700 block of South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

He was charged with first-degree murder, murder/forcible felony and armed robbery with a firearm.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.