CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- A 17-year-old said Tuesday he is "blessed" that prosecutors dropped a murder charge against him in the beating death last month of a Chicago honors student. Derrion Albert, 16, was beaten to death September 24. His death was captured on video. "I'm just happy to be out," Eugene Bailey said, a day after authorities announced they were dismissing the charge against him in the September 24 death of Derrion Albert. Police said Albert, a 16-year-old honors student, was an innocent bystander who ended up in the middle of a street fight between two factions of students from Christian Fenger Academy High School. His beating death was captured on video, which shows him being hit by a person wielding a piece of a railroad tie.Eugene Bailey, 17, freed of charge in Derrion Albert's beating deathBailey says he was Albert's friend, approached police with offer of helpPolice say Albert was bystander who was caught in middle of gang fightBeating was videotaped and police thought Bailey was in video
Albert's death was not an isolated incident: More than 30 youths suffered violent deaths in _ last year.