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Elgin man shot to death was 'trying to break away' from past

A 20-year-old Elgin man who died after a shooting Tuesday night had survived being shot three times a little more than a year ago, his relatives said.

The family of Alberto Prado remembered him as a loyal, caring and funny young man who had been wanting to get out of the gang life.

"My son wasn't a bad son," his father, Mario Alberto Prado, said Thursday. "He was just trying to break away from who he wasn't."

Alberto Prado was walking with a friend near his home on St. Charles Street when a man approached him and began fighting with him, his father said. Another man then shot Prado from a truck, he said.

Elgin police Cmdr. Glenn Theriault said police are investigating the shooting.

It was Elgin's second murder this year after Carmelo Maldonado, 45, died of injuries sustained in what police believe was a targeted home invasion in January.

Prado went by the nicknames "Beto" and "Flaco," the latter meaning "skinny" in Spanish because of his tall, lanky frame, his father said.

He had three siblings: Jessenia, 24, who lives in Mexico, Mario, 22, and Ciara, 8. Their mother is Micaela.

Alberto Prado was among 25 people named in a lawsuit filed in June 2013 by Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon against the Maniac Latin Disciples gang.

He survived a shooting in the early morning hours of Sept. 15, 2013, outside a hotel in the 500 block of Airport Road, Theriault said. No one has been charged in that shooting yet, he said.

He started talking about finding a better path after surviving the shooting, his relatives said.

"Being close to death, I think that changed him," Jessenia Prado said.

Mario Prado, who was also named in the lawsuit, said he and his younger brother got involved with gangs after being lured by empty promises.

"They sell us that dream that you're going to have all of this, but in reality, you're just doing the wrong thing," he said.

It takes a strong will not to bend to temptation, his father said.

"I told them (my sons) that's not the right way to go," he said. "You got to be right and do right. But you can only be on your son for 'X' amount of time."

Alberto Prado was charged in October 2012 with felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, and mob action, according to court records. The battery charges were dropped and he pleaded guilty to mob action, and was sentenced to probation until March 2015.

That made it all the more difficult for him to find a job, also because he'd dropped out of Gifford Street High School after his freshman year, Mario Alberto Prado said.

Still, his sons had found jobs about three months ago as commercial painters thanks to someone in the Jehovah's Witnesses community, his father said.

The day he died, Alberto Prado spent time shopping with his mother and younger sister.

"They had a conversation about whether the Lord would forgive him," his father said. "He said he wanted to change, start fresh."

Visitation will be from 4:30 to 9 p.m. today at Wait-Ross-Allanson Funeral and Cremation Services Elgin Chapel, 51 Center St., Elgin.

Police are asking anyone with any information regarding the shooting to contact the gang investigation division at (847) 289-2646.

Anonymous tips or information can be provided via the crime line at (847) 695-4195 or texting 847411 and including ELGINPD in the beginning of the text, along with the message and/or tip information.

Alberto Prado, back row, middle, celebrated his grandmother's birthday in August with his siblings and cousins. Prado was fatally shot Tuesday night in Elgin. COURTESY OF PRADO FAMILY
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