Witness describes killing of teenager
A felon and admitted gang member took the stand Tuesday to testify against 19-year-old Juan Gomez, charged with first-degree murder in the 2006 shooting death of 15-year-old Chavario White.
Juan Lopez-Tafoya testified he drove Gomez, known as "Rascal," and another man to an area near Wheeling's Colonial Drive the evening of Sept 3, 2006.
Lopez-Tafoya said the two men exited the car, walked toward a wooded area identified as Childerley Park and crossed over a footbridge. Gomez was carrying a shotgun, Lopez-Tafoya testified in a mumbling, often incoherent tone.
Lopez-Tafoya said he heard a gunshot and a few minutes later, Gomez and the other man returned to the car, their black hooded sweatshirts covered with "sticky things" that prosecutors identified as burrs.
Wheeling police officer Jeremy Hoffman testified Monday that he and his canine partner, Duke, were covered with burrs after following a human scent from some bushes near the murder scene to the bridge.
Lopez-Tafoya, 26, testified that Wheeling police interviewed him about the shooting in December 2007 while he was serving time in a federal prison in New Mexico for smuggling people into the country.
Initially charged with first-degree murder, Lopez-Tafoya pleaded guilty to lesser charges in September and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, of which he must serve at least 15.
Defense attorney Wayne Brucar hammered Lopez-Tafoya, suggesting he "told them (police) what they wanted to hear" and pointed the finger at Gomez in exchange for reduced charges and sentence.
Lopez-Tafoya wasn't the only one to point the finger at Gomez.
Prosecution witness Joe Ybarra, an admitted former gang member with a criminal record, testified Gomez admitted to killing Chavario in March 2008.
Gomez intended to shoot Chavario in his stomach "so he don't die so fast," but the gun kicked and Gomez ended up shooting the teen in the head, Ybarra said.
About a month after their conversation, Ybarra pleaded guilty to aggravated discharge of a firearm and was sentenced to the Cook County sheriff's boot camp program. He insisted prosecutors promised him nothing in exchange for his testimony but admitted he feared going to prison.
Insisting police arrested the wrong man, Gomez's attorneys pointed to a copy of a police photo lineup on which a man interviewed the night of the murder wrote "he shot Chavario" under the picture of another man.
The defendant's father, Jose Gomez, served as an alibi witness, testifying that he and his immediate family spent until 10:30 p.m. the day of the murder with Juan, shopping at Gurnee Mills and dining at Jose's home in Round Lake Park.
Testimony continues today in Rolling Meadows.