A man charged with murder Thursday in the shooting deaths of three men in a restaurant parking lot Tuesday once described himself to police as a hit man, authorities said.
Hector Leon Moya, 29, was ordered held without bail after being charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the Willowbrook attack, which was witnessed by a police officer on patrol.
Moya’s last known address is in the 1400 block of South 49th Avenue in Cicero. He originally is from Guadalajara, Mexico.
An arrest warrant was issued in Cook County for Moya in July after he failed to appear in court on weapons charges. Cicero police found Moya sleeping in a car with a loaded gun May 27, said Cicero spokesman Omar Duque. Moya, who also used the alias Hector Leon, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon under the alias Ivan P. Garcia.
In that arrest, Moya told police a drug dealer had hired him to kill another drug dealer who owed money, DuPage County Assistant State’s Atty. Alex McGimpsey said at Moya’s bail hearing Thursday afternoon.
Tuesday night, a veteran Willowbrook police officer passing by a Denny’s parking lot at Midway Drive and Illinois Highway 83 saw a man fire several shots into the passenger compartment of an extended-cab pickup truck, authorities said. The officer “saw muzzle flashes” and a victim’s head move as blood splattered on the vehicle’s windshield, McGimpsey said.
The officer stopped his vehicle and chased the shooter, who ran away. Moya was arrested soon after, said DuPage County State’s Atty. Joseph Birkett.
The truck drove north through the parking lot, over a curb and across Midway Drive toward a gas station, crashing into the side of a Target store.
One man, found along Midway Drive, was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other men were found in the truck, taken to Hinsdale Hospital and pronounced dead.
More Top Picks Best 2 In 1 Tablets For College Students
The DuPage County coroner identified the victims as Federico Moreno Torres, 36, of Mexico; Guillermo Armendariz, 36, of Grand Prairie, Texas; and Hilario Ochoa, 25, of Irving, Texas.
Birkett declined to comment about a motive for the shootings, whether drugs were involved or why the men were in Illinois, saying it was an ongoing investigation.
Police found a loaded .45-caliber semiautomatic gun with Moya and an empty magazine in his pocket that holds seven rounds, McGimpsey said. Police also recovered seven shell casings in the Denny’s parking lot that matched Moya’s weapon, he said.
Chief Deputy Coroner Peter Siekmann said all three men died of multiple gunshot wounds but would not elaborate on their injuries because the investigation was ongoing. He also said authorities have been unable to reach any of the victims’ family members, and asked for the public’s help in contacting next of kin.
An FBI spokesman said Interstate Highway 55 near the scene of the shootings, is a common route for dealers moving drugs between Juarez, Mexico, and Chicago.
Moya appeared in Bond Court via closed-circuit television wearing an orange jumpsuit and answered questions through a Spanish interpreter. He said very little, except to agree that he understood the charges against him.
His attorney, John DeLeon of Chicago, said that he had not had much time to talk with his client, but that there are “two sides to every story.” He added that perhaps Moya was acting in self-defense.
Before the Cicero arrest, Moya was arrested in Florida on weapons charges and deported to Mexico. He told Cicero police that he used phony identification to re-enter the country, Duque said. He also was arrested for driving under the influence in Indiana, McGimpsey said.
It is unclear whether he was convicted of any of those charges.
DeLeon said Moya had been staying with family in Cicero. In Mexico, Moya worked as a taxi driver and has a wife and three children, he said.