The PEOPLE v. Zepeda

Defendant, Jesse Zepeda, who was 16 years old when the crime occurred, was found guilty of murder after a bench trial in the circuit court of Cook County and was committed to the custody of the Illinois Youth Commission. The judgment of conviction was affirmed on appeal to the appellate court, (116 Ill. App. 2d 246), and the cause is now before us by virtue of the allowance of his petition for leave to appeal.

In the appellate court it was contended that a written statement of defendant, wherein he admitted facts rendering him legally accountable for the conduct of a co-defendant, (Ill. Rev.…