Witness testifies gang member killed Palatine father, son
A prosecution witness testified he came face to face with the man authorities say shot to death a Palatine father and his 15-year-old son as testimony began Tuesday in the trial of Marco Lopez.
Lopez, 19, faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Lopez's fellow gang member Luis Reynoso and his father Segundo Reynoso, who police say was not in a gang.
Lopez has pleaded not guilty. His attorneys claim another man, whom they say police questioned and released, actually committed the murders.
Jose Herrera lived on the first floor of the apartment complex on the 1900 block of North Green Lane with his then-wife on March 19, 2014. He testified he awoke shortly after midnight to the sounds of a gunshot and someone descending the stairs in the common hallway. Seconds later Herrera ran into his living room - which he said was illuminated by building and parking lot lights - and saw someone through the sliding glass doors.
The person, who Herrera said appeared to be carrying something under his black hoodie, turned to look at him.
Herrera said he realized the person was Lopez, who had lived for a time with the Reynoso family after Lopez's family kicked him out for his involvement with a Chicago street gang, prosecutors say.
Herrera testified he had no trouble identifying Lopez, whom he had met three years earlier and had encountered on as many as 100 different occasions in the neighborhood, even though the glass doors were covered with clear plastic weatherproofing.
Seconds later, a shout from a third-floor neighbor sent Herrera scurrying up the stairs, where he encountered Segundo Reynoso, 36, lying in the hall between apartments "covered in blood," he testified.
Speaking with Palatine detectives a short time later, Herrera told them to "look for Marco Lopez."
Prosecutors say Lopez shot Luis three times in the chest and Segundo once above the eye because he believed Luis had snitched to police about a string of burglaries prosecutors say the teens committed together.
In his opening statement, Cook County assistant public defender Dan Naranjo insisted his client is innocent.
"There is not one scintilla of physical evidence that connects Marco Lopez to these deaths," Naranjo said. "This is a horrible crime ... but Marco is not accountable."
He claims another man murdered the Reynosos because the man believed Luis had initiated the man's son into a rival gang.
Earlier, a grief-stricken Carmen Torres, wife of Segundo and mother of Luis, described her son as respectful and loving. She recalled him arriving home from school, hugging her and saying, "Mama, I love you," Torres said.
Testimony continues Wednesday in Rolling Meadows.