Defense points finger at alternate suspect in 2014 Palatine slayings
Attorneys for Marco Lopez - charged with the 2014 shooting deaths of a Palatine father and son - attempted to pin the blame on another man by calling to the witness stand two of the man's former girlfriends.
Both women testified their former boyfriend, described as a high-ranking member of a Chicago street gang, made statements to them implicating himself mere hours after the murders of Segundo Reynoso, 36, and his 15-year-old son, Luis, who were gunned down in their third-floor apartment about 12:20 a.m. March 19, 2014.
Defense attorneys say the man was angry that Luis Reynoso, a member of a rival gang, had initiated the man's teenage son into Reynoso's gang, to which Lopez also belonged.
Christine Kuesis testified she learned of their son's gang involvement on March 18, 2014, and told her ex-boyfriend about it. She told jurors their son gave his father Lopez's and Luis Reynoso's names.
Kuesis further testified the man called her about 1 a.m. March 19 and asked her for a ride. When she picked him up, she testified, he stated "he had taken care of it, but the dad was there."
Danielle Taylor, who has two children with the man defense attorneys insist is the real killer, said the man told her in October 2014 he "wasn't there for the father, he only wanted the son." She also testified the man told her he left by the back door.
Earlier this week, Palatine police officer Craig Staudt, one of the first officers on the scene, testified the back door to the apartment was locked when he arrived and a fellow officer had to let him in.
Under cross-examination, Taylor admitted she didn't tell the information to police until December 2014. At the time, Taylor was suing the man for child support.
Prosecutors reject the defense argument. They say Lopez, who had lived with the Reynoso family for a while after his parents kicked him out for his gang activity, killed Luis because he believed Luis had snitched on him to police about burglaries authorities say the teens committed together.
Charged with two counts of first-degree murder, Lopez, 19, faces mandatory life in prison if convicted of both counts.
Testimony continues Thursday in Rolling Meadows.