Round Lake Beach man pleads not guilty in drive-by shooting that wounded girl

One of two teens charged in a Waukegan drive-by shooting that wounded a girl pleaded not guilty Friday in Lake County Circuit Court.

Martin Martinez, 17, of the 1400 block of Cherokee Trail in Round Lake Beach, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a street gang member.

Assistant State’s Attorney Ryan Koehl said Martinez was driving a car around 9:55 p.m. on Jan. 21 in the 600 block of Lorraine Avenue in Waukegan.

Police said a passenger in the car, Victor Ramirez, 16, of the 2600 block of Greenwood Avenue in Waukegan, opened fire with a handgun.

Both suspects have been charged as adults.

A 15-year-old girl sitting in a parked car outside the house suffered a glancing wound to the top of her head and was treated and released from a hospital.

Associate Judge Theodore Potkonjak accepted not guilty pleas from Martinez, who is held on $500,000 bail, and ordered him to appear in court March 14.

Ramirez, who is held on $1 million bail, pleaded not guilty to the same charges on Feb. 28 and is scheduled to be in court March 13.

Ramirez also faces a second set of the same charges from a Jan. 23 shooting at the same house when a 19-year-old male was wounded.

Police said the target of both shootings was a 20-year-old male resident of the house who Ramirez believed had shot at him late last year.