Cook County prosecutors told a judge Monday they have amassed a pile of evidence tying a 17-year-old father and reputed gang member to shootings in the Gage Park neighborhood this year, including the killing of a man who was waiting for his girlfriend.
Antonio Reyes has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the June 24 shooting death of Luis Davalos Garcia, as well as attempted murder and aggravated battery for a Nov. 26 shooting in the 5800 block of South Central Park Avenue, authorities said. The victim in that shooting, a 27-year-old man who said he’d never seen Reyes before, suffered a graze wound to the top of his head.
Reyes appeared Monday before Judge David Navarro by video from the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, during a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube.
For the murder charge, prosecutors presented video of a distinctive getaway car, a silver Lincoln MKZ with a temporary license plate and a “Baby On Board” placard later found abandoned in Gary. Video captured the Lincoln before, during and after the attack on Davalos Garcia, 26, who was shot in the head while double parked in the 5800 block of South Rockwell Street just after 3 a.m., according to Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Deboni.
The video showed a laser pointing into the victim’s car, followed by several muzzle flashes before the Lincoln sped off, Deboni said. Officers in the Chicago Lawn police district on the Southwest Side later encountered the Lincoln twice, with the sedan fleeing traffic stops each time, including a July 8 chase that involved the Chicago police helicopter.
A person in the Lincoln was later arrested and told authorities that Reyes was the driver and that he tossed a handgun out the window on Lake Shore Drive during the chase. A handgun with a laser sight was recovered seven days later on a median and ballistics tests showed it had a “high correlation” with shell casings found at the scene of the slaying, Deboni said.
Authorities also produced social media messages between a Facebook account believed to be Reyes’ and the mother of his child. Following the couple’s breakup, officials said Reyes posted a video telling the woman that he was so upset that he was “going to go kill a King right now,” showing a handgun with a laser sight and the inside of a car minutes before Davalos Garcia was shot, Deboni said.
Authorities did not identify Davalos Garcia as a gang member.
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As for the November shooting, prosecutors said Reyes and a passenger in a rented Jeep stared down the 27-year-old man outside a convenience store before following his car to Central Park Avenue. A masked gunman in the car fired four or five shots at the man, grazing his head, prosecutors said.
The Jeep, found abandoned two days later, was tied to Reyes’ grandmother who had rented it and later reported it stolen. When interviewed by police, she denied knowing her own grandson, Deboni said. In 2018, the woman had filed a domestic battery report against Reyes, authorities said.
The Lincoln was also connected to a third shooting where both victims survived, but no criminal charges have yet been filed, Deboni said. Reyes has three juvenile delinquency adjudications dating back to 2017 and four pending juvenile cases, including an armed robbery case, authorities said.
Reyes’ attorney denied the allegations, saying there were no direct witnesses to the homicide, no video of the shooter’s face and no way of knowing if the gun on video with Reyes was the same murder weapon. He also cast doubt on the second victim’s positive identification of Reyes, noting the gunman was wearing a face mask during the shooting.
Navarro expressed doubts whether Reyes, who was 16 at the time of the homicide, could face natural life in prison without further court findings, but ordered him held without bail for the murder charge, as well as a $500,000 bail for the attempt murder case.
Reyes is scheduled to return to court Dec. 28.