Once again denying bail, a judge on Wednesday told a man accused of killing a Chicago police officer that “you murdered him in cold blood” and “you were caught on the scene red-handed.”
Steven Montano, 18, appeared in court Wednesday for the first time since he was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso on a playground at Sawyer Elementary School in Gage Park on March 1.
Montano wasn’t present for his initial bond hearing days after the shooting because he was hospitalized for a gunshot wound to his face he suffered during an exchange of gunfire with Lasso.
On Wednesday, prosecutors announced that a grand jury had returned an indictment against Montano, and his court-appointed attorney requested a new bond hearing now that Montano was able to attend.
Montano appeared in court via video feed from the Cook County Jail with a large white bandage on his right cheek.
Assistant Public Defender Julie Koehler described Montano as a former honors student who dropped out of his selective-enrollment high school during his senior year amid the pandemic. Since then, she said, he had been working at a downtown Chick-fil-A restaurant as a cook.
She described Montano as a talented long-distance runner who was a former youth mentor at a community center in Lawndale, where he helped kids deal with their aggression through running, Koehler said.
“This is an incredibly tragic case,” Koehler said. “Steven didn’t intend for any of this to happen.”
The attorney also contended that Montano was in the process of stopping and turning around when he was shot by Lasso.
But Assistant State’s Attorney Anne McCord Rodgers countered that, “He didn’t stop to surrender.”
Montano had actually racked the slide on his gun before turning toward the officer, McCord Rogers said.
“He stopped to shoot Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso,” she said.
Prosecutors allege Montano ran from police when they were called to his girlfriend’s apartment after he brandished a gun during an argument with her. Lasso was responding to the shooting when he spotted Montano running on Spaulding Avenue and pursued him onto the playground.
Judge Ankur Srivastava pointed to footage of the shooting from Lasso’s body-worn camera and multiple witnesses who identified Montano as the shooter.
“You were caught on the scene red handed,” the judge said.
None of Montano’s previous mentoring or schooling can change what happened that day, Srivastava said.
“You murdered a Chicago police officer who was trying to do his job. And you murdered him in cold blood,” said Srivastava.
Montano is expected back in court on April 5, when he will be assigned a judge for his case.
