Lake County grand jury indicts Georgia man on kidnapping, assault
A Georgia man has been indicted by a Lake County grand jury on charges of kidnapping and aggravated criminal sexual assault.
Cristian De La O Hernandez, 22, remains in Lake County jail on $1 million bail, said Lake County Sheriff’s Sgt. Karen Kates. De La O Hernandez is also held on a warrant out of Georgia for murder, Kates said.
Lake County sheriff’s detectives and deputies, along with federal marshals, arrested Hernandez and Jose Juarez-Vidales, 41, of Georgia, on May 2 at the American Inn Motel on Sheridan Road in Beach Park, Kates said.
On April 30, Hernandez met the kidnapping victim and her friend, Maria J. Ramon, at a dance club in DeKalb, Ga, police said earlier this month.
Hernandez, who is originally from Zion, talked the women into leaving the club and going to a different bar across town in Ramon’s vehicle, police said.
While driving to the bar, Hernandez pulled out a handgun and began firing shots out the window before pointing the gun at Ramon and ordering her to stop so he could drive, officials said.
Hernandez began groping Ramon as he was driving, and when she resisted his advances, he shot her in the head, killing her, police said.
Hernandez drove back to pick up his vehicle and left Ramon’s body in her vehicle, where DeKalb County police found her about six hours later, police said.
Hernandez contacted Juarez-Vidales and asked for help in taking guns to the Chicago area., officials said.
During the trip, Hernandez \sexually assaulted the victim multiple times before arriving at the motel in Beach Park, authorities said
Police said the kidnapping victim was able to send a text message to a friend with the motel’s location in Beach Park, and the friend alerted authorities.
The victim was taken to Vista East Hospital after police arrested Hernandez and Juarez-Vidales, police said. She was later released to relatives in Georgia.