2 people charged for deadly Northalsted carjacking connected to Bronzeville shooting: CPD
Chicago police said a man and a teenage boy were charged with a deadly carjacking on the city's North Side that is also believed to be connected to a shooting in Bronzeville.
Marquese Hill, 18, and a 17-year-old boy were arrested and charged with two felony counts of first-degree murder, three felony counts of aggravated Vehicular Hijacking, one felony count of attempted vehicular hijacking, and two felony counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm to an occupied vehicle.
Hill was additionally charged with two felony counts of aggravated Vehicular Hijacking to a handicapped person, two felony counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm, and one felony count of aggravated battery to a peace officer.
Just before 4 a.m. on Feb. 11, two men were in a car in the 700 block of West Waveland Avenue in the city's Northalsted neighborhood when they were approached by two armed men who demanded their car and personal belongings.
The suspects opened fire, striking a 22-year-old man in the chest and back. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he died, Chicago police said. The other person in the car, a 38-year-old, was not hurt.
The carjackers then took the victims' car and drove off.
The man killed was identified as Darwin Tirado, who worked for Chef Art Smith at his Navy Pier restaurant, Reunion, and was a student at City Colleges of Chicago.
"A very talented, young, smart, hardworking young man who was going to college and whose life was just instantly taken away," Smith said. "Darwin's mother has worked for me as chef almost 20 years, and in the restaurant business we've all become together as a family."
Smith said Tirado' family is aware of the arrests. He himself let out a sigh of relief when he learned the news.
"I'm really pleased that they have these people in custody, and I hope and pray that they are the people," he said.
The car stolen in Northalsted may have also been connected to a fatal shooting in Bronzeville. Less than an hour after the North Side carjacking, CPD was called to the 3700 block of South Lake Park Avenue for a report of a man shot in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. He was identified as 45-year-old Damon Kellum of Chicago.
Minutes after the second shooting, police responded to two additional similar crimes.
Just before 5 a.m., at a gas station on 42nd and Wentworth in Fuller Park, there was an attempted carjacking by the pumps, according to a gas station employee. That victim, whopolice said was a 70-year-old man, ran off and wasn't hurt.
Also, around 5 a.m. near 87th and Lafayette in Chatham, another victim, a 38-year-old man, was in a silver Chevy Malibu when two people in a gray Nissan sedan came up and carjacked him. The suspects hit that victim in the face with a gun, causing a cut to his face.
Police later confirmed that all of the crimes were connected.
Both Hill and the 17-year-old are expected to appear at a detention hearing on Saturday.
The video above is from an earlier report.
