Grand jury indicts murder suspect
A Cook County grand jury indicted an admitted gang member for murder in the shooting death of a popular Buffalo Grove High School sophomore, officials said Friday.
Juan Lopez-Tafoya, 23, is accused of being the wheel man for two other gang members the night of Sept. 3, 2006.
Authorities say Lopez-Tafoya dropped off his passengers at an apartment complex in Wheeling where Chavario White was hanging out with friends.
The 15-year-old boy was shot in the head just steps from his home by Lopez-Tafoya's two accomplices, prosecutors said.
Friends and family described the teenager as a lovable kid who stayed out of trouble and enjoyed pets and playing basketball.
Lopez-Tafoya was charged Feb. 1, several months after Wheeling investigators questioned him while he was an inmate at a detention facility in New Mexico following an arrest on charges of smuggling people over the border. He previously lived on the 500 block of Love Drive in Prospect Heights.
Lopez-Tafoya will appear at the Rolling Meadows courthouse again March 13.