A 16-year-old boy charged with fatally shooting a 22-year-old mother of two and seriously wounding her older sister was already under investigation for an earlier attack on the sister when he was arrested, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Roberto Jimenez was taken into custody Monday and charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 24 killing of Jezebell Perez, 22, Chicago police and state prosecutors said.
Jimenez also faces two counts of aggravated battery for shooting Perez’s sister, 24, once on Aug. 7 and again on Aug. 24. The two had been involved in a relationship, prosecutors said in court.
On Aug. 7 Jimenez shot the sister after she approached his new girlfriend’s car to confront her about a Facebook post, prosecutors said. She identified Jimenez and the new girlfriend in a photo array, and the shooting was under investigation at the time of the Aug. 24 attack.
That night, Perez was driving with her sister and two young daughters when they saw Jimenez and his new girlfriend parked in front of a smoke shop on 26th Street. Perez stopped her car and began arguing with Jimenez and his girlfriend about the previous shooting, prosecutors said.
Perez threw a cup of water at the girlfriend’s car and drove away, then stopped in a nearby parking lot to see if she had a small baseball bat in her trunk but could not find it, prosecutors said.
Soon afterward, the two cars met again in an alley near the 2700 block of South Homan Avenue, prosecutors said. Perez got out of her car and began banging on the driver side window of the girlfriend’s car.
Jimenez and another person in the car got out and walked to a nearby tow lot, where Jimenez’s gang was known to store firearms, according to prosecutors.
Jimenez returned to the cars and began shooting at Perez, striking her four times, prosecutors said.
She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. She leaves behind two daughters, 1 and 4, according to a GoFundMe page started by the Perez family.
Perez’s sister tried to get behind the wheel and drive away with the two young children, but Jimenez began to run at her, prosecutors said. Perez’s sister jumped out of the car and started to run toward 28th Street when Jimenez opened fire, striking her twice.
A judge on Wednesday ordered Jimenez beheld without bail. He was set to begin his sophomore year at Farragut High School this fall.
Jimenez is scheduled to appear again in court on Sept. 19.
