Man shot, killed in Naperville

Mortally wounded by a single gunshot to his neck, John Rosales fled.

Unknown assailants had opened fire on him at his Naperville townhouse, but he managed to escape in his car.

He sped north on Sheehan Drive and made a quick right-hand turn onto eastbound 87th Street, causing the vehicle to hop a concrete median.

Skidmarks remain where his car abruptly stopped. A pool of blood marks the spot where he exited the car. And a trail of blood acts as a marker for the 23-year-old's final moments alive.

He walked from the median across the westbound lanes and up to the parkway on the north side of the street for about a hundred feet. Then he staggered back into the street and walked toward an unoccupied car for another hundred feet. He fell into the grassy median, the spot where he finally died. That's where Naperville police found him early Tuesday morning.

Police say they are searching for two men in connection with Rosales' death. They still have not determined a motive, said Naperville police Cmdr. Ken Parcel.

Meanwhile, Rosales' family is coping with the news of his murder.

His oldest sister, Maria Rosales, said the close-knit, religious family is reeling from its loss. They were making funeral arrangements late Tuesday.

"All I know is my brother is gone," she said, fighting back tears. "He was a great kid. He had the biggest heart."

"We hope that they catch the person. We know that we are supposed to forgive."

Parcel wouldn't say how many shots were fired, if police had found any weapons or what type of evidence has been recovered from a daylong search of Rosales' townhouse on the 2500 block of Sheehan Drive. He also would not say whether investigators believe Rosales knew his attackers or not.

The murder has rocked the sleepy residential neighborhood made up of townhouses and newly constructed houses in the Windridge and Stillwater neighborhoods.

Don Bergstrom, whose home backs up to 87th Street, said he was awakened by screeching tires and what sounded like a crash at 12:25 a.m.

"Then I heard loud voices and car doors closing," he said.

He couldn't see much else but noticed two other cars idling in the westbound lanes that took off before police arrived less than five minutes later.

Neighbors living near Rosales' home said they were awakened by police activity. They said the residence was a high-traffic area for years, with people coming by at all times of the day and night, seven days a week.

Police were still at the townhouse late Tuesday.

Investigators at the crash site reopened 87th Street before noon. They marked with spray paint the location of both vehicles and Rosales' blood trail.

Police eventually towed both Rosales' car and the second unmanned car Rosales was trying to reach when he died. Parcel said police were still trying to determine who owns the second car.

Parcel said witnesses did not provide any information on a suspect vehicle, but he described both suspects as men 18 to 25 years old and about 5 feet, 7 inches tall.

Rosales had a few minor brushes with the law, according to DuPage County court records. He pleaded guilty to a 2005 drunken driving arrest and marijuana possession last year.

He also had two local ordinance violations last year for disorderly conduct after he was accused of threatening an acquaintance. A phone message left with the acquaintance was not returned Tuesday.

His Oak Brook attorney, Nicholas C. Kirkeles, said there was nothing in Rosales' past that would have foreshadowed this kind of violence.

"He was a soft-spoken kid," Kirkeles said. "He didn't seem like the type that was an agitator or real aggressive. He talked a lot about religion."

Anyone who may have witnessed the incident or who may have information of any kind is being asked to call Naperville police at (630) 420-6665 or Naperville Crime Stoppers at (630) 420-6006. Callers may be anonymous.

The crime is Naperville's first homicide since Aug. 11, 2007, when 32-year-old Nimisha Tiwari -- amid a crumbling marriage -- bought a can of gasoline, shut herself in her bedroom with her two young children and set a blaze, killing all three, on the 1900 block of Nutmeg Lane.