CHICAGO — When Chicago police leaders and Prepare dinner County State’s Legal professional Eileen O’Neill Burke introduced prices towards a suspected serial killer on Wednesday, they didn’t converse concerning the accused man’s background.
Requested concerning the legal background of 21-year-old Antonio Reyes, CPD Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti stated she was “restricted” in what she might say as a result of state legislation prohibits officers from revealing juvenile legal information.
That legislation doesn’t apply to us, so we’ll reply that reporter’s query now.
Reyes was given three years of probation in juvenile courtroom for aggravated theft and aggravated battery in December 2019. Between March 2020 and November 2020, whereas he was allegedly killing six individuals and making an attempt to kill 4 others, he picked up 4 extra juvenile circumstances: armed theft, aggravated assault with a lethal weapon, illegal use of a weapon, and a narcotics cost.
Prosecutors revealed that data after they charged Reyes together with his first homicide and tried homicide circumstances in December 2020. Our reporter was taking notes.
These first two circumstances earned Reyes a spot in our “Not Horrible” reporting sequence, a group of studies about individuals accused of committing homicide and tried homicide whereas on pretrial launch for felonies.
We referred to as it “Not Horrible” as a result of Prepare dinner County Chief Decide Timothy Evans said in November 2019 that there had not been “any horrible incidents” beneath his reasonably priced bail system.
Throughout the December 2020 listening to, Assistant State’s Legal professional Kevin Deboni stated Reyes shot 26-year-old Davalos Garcia as Garcia waited for his girlfriend to come back out of her home within the 5800 block of South Rockwell on June 24, 2020.
About 4 hours after Garcia’s homicide, a automotive just like the one utilized by his killer was concerned in one other taking pictures, however each of the victims in that case survived. Investigators tracked a short lived license plate on the automotive to an auto physique store that offered the automobile to the mom of Reyes’ baby 4 days earlier than the homicide, DeBoni stated. As of immediately, Reyes continues to be not charged with that day’s second taking pictures.
Throughout the identical listening to, Reyes was charged with one other crime. On November 26, 2020, a 27-year-old man seen two males in a Jeep watching him as he checked out residence listings on a pole close to 58th Road and Central Park. Minutes later, the person was shot by somebody who fired from contained in the Jeep, DeBoni stated. The gunman was sporting a surgical masks, however the sufferer was later in a position to determine Reyes by his eyes, eyebrows, and brow, in line with DeBoni.
Cops discovered the Jeep deserted two days after the taking pictures with a shell casing beneath its windshield wiper that has a “excessive correlation” to shell casings discovered on the November 26 taking pictures scene, DeBoni stated on the time. Police allegedly tracked the Jeep’s license plate to Reyes’ grandmother. She had reported the Jeep stolen, DeBoni stated, and she or he denied realizing her personal grandson when police requested about him.
Reyes was 17 when he was charged with these crimes. He continues to battle the allegations and has remained in custody ever since. Whereas there, he tried to kill one in all his cellmates with a shank, O’Neill Burke stated throughout a press convention on Wednesday.
Throughout the convention, she and CPD Supt. Larry Snelling accused Reyes of taking pictures and killing much more individuals in 2020. By state legislation, they didn’t reveal that he was on juvenile probation and had picked up much more juvenile felony prices in the course of the months when the killings occurred:
On March 2, 2020, he allegedly shot and killed Francisco Mangana, 31, within the 2600 block of West 59th Road.
On April 5, 2020, he allegedly killed Claudio Cossio, 21, and injured a second individual in a taking pictures within the 4100 block of South Sacramento.
He allegedly killed Damian Duran, 16, within the 5200 block of South Homan on Might 1, 2020.
On November 8, 2020, 31-year-old Jose Martinez took his three kids, all between 3 and 9 years outdated, to purchase a pet. Reyes allegedly shot into their automobile within the 5400 block of South Homan, killing Martinez.
He’s accused of murdering Justin Gonzalez, 20, within the 4700 block of West 59th Road on November 9, 2020.
Ursitti, the chief of detectives, stated investigators caught a giant break when cops recovered a .40-caliber handgun in the course of the summer season of 2020. Lab checks linked the gun to a number of of the circumstances, giving detectives an important lead. She added that Reyes had a “pretty vital” social media presence and investigators have been in a position to hyperlink his on-line posts with a number of the taking pictures places.
Officers have discovered no indication that Reyes knew any of his victims or that the victims had performed something to trigger Reyes to focus on them.
The “not horrible” sequence
This report continues our protection of people accused of killing, taking pictures, or making an attempt to kill or shoot others on pretrial launch for a felony allegation. CWBChicago started our sequence of studies in November 2019 after Prepare dinner County Chief Decide Timothy Evans publicly said, “We haven’t had any horrible incidents happen” beneath the courtroom’s bond reform initiative.
The precise variety of murders and shootings dedicated by individuals awaiting trial for felony allegations is undoubtedly a lot larger than the numbers seen right here. Since 2017, CPD has introduced prices in lower than 5% of non-fatal shootings and 33% of murders, in line with the town’s knowledge.
Earlier reporting
2024 “not horrible” cases2023 “not horrible” cases2022 “not horrible” cases2021 “not horrible” cases2020 “not horrible” cases2019 “not horrible” circumstances
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