Teen pleads guilty in gang shooting

Two days after his 16th birthday, Edgar Diaz pleaded guilty to murder.

Officials said Diaz admitted Thursday that he shot and killed a rival gang member April 25 as they argued outside Diaz's Waukegan home.

Miguel Celis, 18, was once in the same street gang as Diaz, Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Fred Day said, but Diaz quit that gang and joined another.

On the day he was killed, Celis was walking by Diaz's home in the 1300 block of Grand Avenue and began to taunt Diaz about leaving the original gang, Day said.

Day said Diaz went into his house, retrieved a .38 caliber revolver and returned to the street where he fired a single shot at Celis.

Day said the bullet went through Celis's left arm and into his heart.

Celis ran a short distance from the scene, then collapsed in a driveway and died.

Diaz was taken by members of his gang to a house in Arlington Heights to hide, Day said, but police tracked him down and arrested him May 2.

He was charged as an adult in the case.

In a videotaped statement to police, Day said Diaz told them he only intended to "spook" Celis when he fired the weapon.

Diaz also told police where he had hidden the gun; police were able to recover it.

First-degree murder usually carries a sentencing range of between 20 and 60 years, but Diaz's plea agreement with prosecutors limits his exposure to 40 years.

He will be held on $3 million at the Hulse Detention Center near Vernon Hills until his Oct. 16 sentencing hearing.