DNA LINKED BOYFRIEND TO SAUK VILLAGE TEEN'S SLAYING,POLICE/GROWING PROBLEM OF GANG VIOLENCE

Teenage girl was strangled in Sauk Village creek By Emma Graves Fitzsimmons | Chicago Tribune reporter 10:43 PM CDT, September 10, 2008 The body of Brashai Griffin, 15, was found naked from the waist down submerged in a creek in Sauk Village, but there was enough DNA to link her sometime-boyfriend to her slaying, authorities said Wednesday. Timothy Easley, 18, of the 200 block of Mallard Drive in the far south suburb was held in lieu of $2.5 million bail Wednesday on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated criminal sexual assault. Easley is accused of strangling Griffin in Plum Creek near her home in April. Prosecutors said DNA led detectives to Easley, and Griffin's friends and family told police she had planned to see Easley the evening of April 3, the day she disappeared.GROWING PROBLEM OF GANG VIOLENCE MUST STOP PEOPLE