A teenage boy has been charged in the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old girl earlier this moth in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side.
The 17-year-old boy, whose name was withheld because he’s a minor, has been charged with a felony count of first-degree murder, according to Chicago police.
The June 2 slaying of Savanah Quintero is believed to be linked to an ongoing conflict between the Almighty Saints, a long-entrenched gang, and the Party People, another that’s relatively new to the area, police sources previously told the Sun-Times.
On the evening of the shooting, Quintero and her boyfriend left a corner store at 48th and Wood streets after buying snacks when they were confronted by three members of the Party People, according to police and the ward’s alderman.
When the suspects asked about the couple’s gang affiliation, Quintero responded, “[Don’t] worry about it,” a police report states. Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) previously told the Sun-Times Quintero said she wasn’t in a gang but a relative belonged to the Almighty Saints, citing information he got from police.
One of the suspects then pulled out a handgun and said, “We Saint killer over here,” according to the police report. When the gang member fumbled the gun, Quintero and her boyfriend ran off. The shooter then recovered the weapon and opened fire, striking Quintero in the head.
Quintero was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition. She died there three days later from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The gunmen, who were captured on surveillance footage, jumped into an SUV after the shooting and sped off, police said.
The 17-year-old was arrested Saturday evening in the 3700 block of West 59th Street after he was identified as the suspected shooter, police said. A bail hearing in juvenile court was set for Sunday.
The police report identified the shooting as a “gang related incident,” an assessment Lopez agreed with. “It was 100% gang-related,” the alderman previously said.
A vigil the day after the shooting, a friend of the slain teen spoke out against statements made by officials attributing the shooting solely to gang violence.
“I think it’s important to note that this is all a result of a lack of investment and a lack of importance being placed on our children in low-income neighborhoods such as Back of the Yards,” said Lithzuly Pizano.
