A 33-year-old man has been charged in the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy driving home from soccer practice over the summer in Little Village.
Jesus Pena Jr., of Little Village, faces one count of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm in connection with the shooting death of Juan Sebastian Salgado.
At 5 p.m. Aug. 19, Salgado was driving two friends home from soccer practice when a Chevy Avalanche began following them near 26th Street and Keeler Avenue, prosecutors said in court Wednesday.
The people inside the Avalanche drove next to Salgado and yelled for him and his friends to “Throw down the crown,” prosecutors said.
Salgado and his friends repeatedly said they were not affiliated with a gang.
Pena Jr. then allegedly shot from the Avalanche, into Salgado’s vehicle, striking the teen in the shoulder, according to prosecutors. Salgado’s passengers, 17 and 18, were not hit.
Salgado was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The teen was the soccer captain at Benito Juarez Community Academy and set to begin his senior year this fall.
The Avalanche was captured on video footage outside an auto shop minutes after the shooting. Pena Jr. is allegedly seen on video at the shop changing his clothes, according to prosecutors, and later captured on video in the new clothing entering a liquor store in Cicero.
Both surviving witnesses identified Pena Jr. as the shooter, according to prosecutors.
Pena Jr. was arrested Monday and has two prior felony convictions.
Pena Jr.’s attorney argued he was at home at the time of the shooting.
“This is a tragic incident, but you do not have the right individual,” his attorney said in court Wednesday.
Pena Jr. works as a peacekeeper for New Life Centers, according to his attorney. Peacekeepers do street outreach to address violence in neighborhoods, according to New Life Centers’ website. The organization was founded by New Life Community Church, which has several locations in Chicago.
Judge Caroline Glennon-Goodman ordered Pena Jr. to be detained pending trial.
His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 30.