Bail was denied Wednesday for a teenager accused of firing on a car last December in Brighton Park, killing a 21-year-old mother as she rode in a rear seat.
Jacob Salazar, 17, faces a charge of first-degree murder in the Dec. 5 shooting of 21-year-old Veronica Moreno, who died after suffering a gunshot wound to her head, Cook County prosecutors said.
Moreno was the mother of a 6-month-old infant, prosecutors said. Officials did not give a motive in the shooting or say whether they believed she was the intended target.
About 2 p.m. the day of the shooting, Salazar was inside a barbershop near the scene of the shooting when he spotted a vehicle stopped at a red light at Albany and Archer avenues, armed himself with a handgun and ran towards it, prosecutors said.
Seeing Salazar running at the vehicle, the driver sped off south as Salazar began firing at the car, prosecutors said, with one bullet striking Moreno on the left side of her head.
Salazar and another unidentified person ran off after the shooting and Moreno was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead the following day, according to prosecutors and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Multiple surveillance cameras in the area recorded Salazar inside the barbershop, running outside and firing at the vehicle, prosecutors said. Salazar was also recorded waiting in an alley for several minutes after the shooting before getting into a maroon-colored car that picked him up.
A Chicago police officer who has had previous contact with Salazar identified him as the shooter in the footage and another witness placed Salazar in the area just prior to the shooting, prosecutors said.
Salazar, of Brighton Park, is also facing a pending charge of unlawful use of a weapon after he was seen tossing a 9-mm handgun to the ground when he was approached by police officers Dec. 29 in the 3100 block of West 39th Street, prosecutors said. Additional information was not available because Salazar was charged as a juvenile in that case.
An arrest report shows he was taken into custody on the murder charge Tuesday at his home.
Judge Arthur Wesley Willis ordered Salazar held without bail and set his next court date for Feb. 25.
Members of Salazar’s family who attended the hearing declined to comment.
