Minutes after telling Chicago police officers that she would “check” a man who drove on her lawn after arguing with her son, Viviana Noriega allegedly got into her car to find and kill him.
Police responded to the Noriega home just before 9 p.m. on April 27, 2021, after 33-year-old Kamel Othman got into an argument and altercation with Noriega’s son and then twice drove over Noriega’s front lawn in his car before leaving, Cook County prosecutors said in court Friday.
A Chicago Police Department officer’s body-worn camera recorded Noriega saying she knew “exactly where” Othman lived, was going to “check” him and said that afterward “he will have no teeth,” prosecutors said.
Her boyfriend allegedly chimed in saying he would “check” Othman, too.
With officers still at her home, Noriega got behind the wheel of her Ford Escape SUV and drove herself and her boyfriend to the 8300 block of South Keating Avenue, where she parked and shut off the lights, prosectors said.
The couple allegedly waited for about five minutes before they saw Othman’s Mitsubishi drive past them on the street and pull into his driveway.
When Othman stepped out of his car, Noriega’s boyfriend walked up and shot him five times before getting back in Noriega’s SUV and speeding off, prosecutors said.
In all, it took less than 15 minutes from the time police arrived at Noriega’s house for the initial complaint until the time Othman was gunned down, according to prosecutors.
But it would take more than two years for Noriega to be charged with murder in his death.
Prosecutors didn’t explain why it took so long to bring charges in court, and a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney’s office declined to clarify aspects of the state’s allegations or comment further when asked on Friday.
Prosecutors said surveillance cameras allegedly recorded Othman driving on Noriega’s lawn, then recorded Noriega and her boyfriend getting into the SUV and driving off, as well as when she parked in Othman’s block.
A witness told police they saw Noriega’s boyfriend approach Othman before they heard multiple gunshots and identified Noriega’s SUV as being at the scene, prosecutors said.
About a week after the shooting, Noriega allegedly had her car, including the rims, painted black, prosecutors said.
A little more than a month later, Noriega was pulled over for a traffic stop, and a fanny pack on the rear floor of her car was found to contain a .22-caliber pistol and marijuana, prosecutors said. Noriega could allegedly be seen in an officer’s body-worn camera “making a nodding motion” toward her juvenile daughter — who then claimed the bag was hers.
Noriega’s daughter was subsequently charged with possession of cannabis and unlawful use of a weapon. Prosecutors said the case was deferred and was no longer pending.
At some point — prosecutors didn’t say when — ballistics testing determined that the gun was the same used to kill Othman.
Noriega, 40, was arrested Wednesday outside her home in the Ashburn neighborhood, less than a mile from where Othman was shot, according to police records
Noriegahad never been arrested before, prosecutors said. Her boyfriend, who wasn’t named in court, was described as an “uncharged co-offender.”
Noriega’s attorney said she could afford to post up to $10,000 bond in the case. He noted that in the two years since the shooting, she had not fled and had not been accused of committing any other crimes. The attorney said she lived with four of her children.
Judge Ankur Srivastava ordered Noriega held without bail.
Her next court appearance was set for June 7.
