Palatine teen's double murder trial to begin
Marco Lopez may spend the rest of his life in prison, and determining that may rest on whether jurors believe a witness who puts the Palatine teen at the scene of a 2014 double murder or an expert called to cast doubt on the identification.
Lopez, 19, goes on trial today on charges he murdered Luis Reynoso, 15, and the teen's father, Segundo, purportedly because he believed Luis snitched on him to police.
Prosecutors say a witness who lived on the first floor of the victims' Palatine apartment building heard gunshots followed by someone heading down the stairs about 12:20 a.m. March 19, 2014. They say the witness identified Lopez, who authorities say belongs to a Chicago street gang, as the person who left the building immediately after the shooting.
Defense attorneys say it wasn't Lopez and argue their client is innocent.
Court records show Lopez's attorneys intend to call an expert in perception, memory and witness identification who will testify about how stress and the presence of a weapon can undermine memory and reduce the likelihood of an accurate identification.
According to court filings, defense attorneys are pointing the finger at another man, a member of a different gang who believed Luis had initiated his son into a rival gang.
Lopez and Luis Reynoso had known each other for years. At the time of the shooting, Lopez was living with the Reynoso family after his own family kicked him out for his gang lifestyle, according to prosecutors.
After initially opening his home to the then-17-year-old Lopez, Segundo Reynoso grew concerned about Lopez's influence on Luis and ordered Lopez to leave, authorities say.
Police say Lopez and Luis Reynoso had committed a string of burglaries, and that Lopez feared Luis had become an informant - which police deny. But prosecutors suggested during his bond hearing that Lopez's suspicions drove him to enter the Reynoso family apartment and shoot Luis three times in the chest and Segundo Reynoso once in the eye. Luis' mother was at work, but his two sisters were home at the time, prosecutors say. They were unharmed.
Lopez is being held without bond at the Cook County jail. If convicted on both murder charges, he faces mandatory life in prison without parole.
Jury selection begins today. The trial is expected to last into next week.