15-year-old charged with killing on-duty USPS mail carrier, officials say

CHICAGO (TMX/Gray News) – A 15-year-old boy has been charged with first-degree murder in the July killing of a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in Chicago, authorities announced Tuesday.

The juvenile suspect, who has not been publicly named, was arrested Monday by Chicago police and the U.S. Marshal Service after a two-month investigation.

Officials said USPS mail carrier Octavia Redmond, 48, was delivering mail July 19 when she was shot and killed.

The teen got out of a stolen Dodge Durango and shot him multiple times at point-blank range, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said.

Redmond died from her injuries in hospital.

The stolen Durango was recovered by law enforcement the next day.

USPS said Redmond “was a wife and mother and is remembered as a fixture for the postal customers she served.”

A GoFundMe page called Redmond “the queen of our family.”

Ruth Mendonça, inspector in charge of the USPIS Chicago division, said there is no place for this type of “senseless violence.”

“When members of our postal family are targeted, postal inspectors will not rest until justice is served on behalf of the victims, their families and our postal community.”

The investigation is ongoing.