Judge sets bond at $1 mil bond for suspect in 2006 Wheeling murder

Juan Lopez-Tafoya was on a gang mission the night of Sept. 3, 2006, he told police. The trek took him and two pals to a Wheeling apartment complex, where they fired at a 15-year-old boy, killing him with a bullet to the head.

On Friday, Lopez-Tafoya stood in the Rolling Meadows courthouse in rumpled jeans and a plaid button-down shirt, listening as an interpreter dictated the facts: He's charged with first-degree murder, and he'll be in jail on a $1 million bond.

The arrest of Lopez-Tafoya, an admitted gang member whose address is listed on the 500 block of Love Drive in Prospect Heights, marked the first charges filed in the 2006 murder of Chavario White.

Wheeling police said the case is still open and they have continued to interview people since White, a Buffalo Grove High sophomore who wasn't part of a gang, was gunned down.

In December, Wheeling police went to New Mexico, where Lopez-Tafoya, a 23-year-old they believed to be one of the men responsible for White's slaying, was being held.

Lopez-Tafoya was an inmate at a detention facility in Estancia, N.M., and, according to U.S. Marshals, was arrested last year for alien smuggling. In May 2007 he was sentenced to 8 months.

After he served his time, he was turned over to authorities in Illinois.

Authorities said Lopez-Tafoya admitted driving two fellow gang members to the Wheeling apartment complex around 10 p.m. Sept. 3, 2006, for a gang mission.

The two men with him, he told authorities, had on black hooded sweatshirts and wore bandanas over their faces. They also were armed with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Lopez-Tafoya told police he dropped the two of them off, then picked them up again after White's murder.

A warrant was issued for Lopez-Tafoya's arrest late last year. Wheeling police said they could not release information on what led them to Lopez-Tafoya. He appeared in court for a brief hearing on Friday.

Terri White, Chavario's mother, said Friday police have advised her not to make any comments until the case has been closed.

But she did say she was happy that an arrest had been made.

"I'm very glad that the Wheeling police found out a suspect," she said.

After Chavario's death in 2006, his sister Meichielle said the 15-year-old was a fan of animals and wanted a dog in addition to the family's three cats.

He was also a fan of cooking and playing basketball with his friends.

Last year, police held a neighborhood meeting at the Colonial townhouses, where the White family lives, to discuss the problems there.

Residents had complained about graffiti and vandalism, and their concerns increased after Chavario's death.

Lopez-Tafoya is scheduled to be back in court Feb. 29.