Three men were charged Sunday with the murder of a restaurant deliveryman shot three times after he apparently resisted a robbery attempt and tried to drive away, police said.
Derrell Little, 22, of the 1400 block of North Lavergne Avenue, was charged with fatally shooting Ruben Hernandez early Friday morning, said Grand-Central Area Lt. Lee Epplen.
Little’s alleged accomplices, Dante Starks and David Wells, did not attack Hernandez, Epplen said. Both men are 23 and live in the 1400 block of North Lawler Avenue, the scene of the shooting. They were charged along with Little with armed robbery and first-degree murder.
Cook County Judge John Kirby on Sunday ordered Starks held in lieu of $2.5 million bail. Little and Wells were ordered held without bail until their next court appearance, Tuesday.
Assistant Cook County State’s Atty. Iris Ferosie told Kirby that all three men made statements about their roles in the crime.
More Top Picks Best Noise Canceling Headphones For Toddlers
The men hatched a plan in which Starks used his girlfriend’s cell phone to call two restaurant deliveries to an address in the North Austin block where Starks and Wells lived, Epplen said.
The first robbery took place just before midnight the men took about $50 from a pizza deliveryman who wasn’t injured, police said. Less than 15 minutes later, they called Taqueria el Ranchito near Logan Square with the same plan, according to police who said that when Hernandez arrived at the delivery address shortly after midnight, Little was waiting for him at the curb.
Hernandez gave Little the food and was making change when Little pointed a .32-caliber handgun at him and demanded the money, according to authorities. Epplen said it’s unclear what caused Little to shoot, but police have said Hernandez, 21, of the 3600 block of West Diversey Avenue, refused to give up the money and tried to drive off.
Before the armed robberies and slaying Thursday and Friday, Starks and Little were both being sought by police in connection with an Aug. 24 armed robbery in the same neighborhood.