Man arrested in Gurnee armed robbery now charged in Beach Park double murder
A Waukegan man arrested following an armed robbery in Gurnee Wednesday was charged with two counts of first degree murder after investigators found evidence tying him to the murder of a Beach Park couple in December, authorities said Thursday.
Darenell D. Hill, 35, is the second man charged in the Dec. 8 killings of Carlos Rodas Perez, 52, and Mercedes Rodas, 49. Timothy D. Triplett Jr., of Waukegan, was indicted last month by a Lake County grand jury and subsequently charged with two counts of murder in the same case.
The murder charges against Hill arose after officers searching the apartment he had been staying at found a firearm Wednesday that belonged to Perez, according to Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Chris Covelli.
A Lake County judge set Hill's bail at $5 million, and he was transported to Lake County jail.
Gurnee Police said Hill was apprehended after the robbery of a Gurnee store Wednesday morning.
Gurnee Police Officer Shawn Gaylor said officers called to the store at 9:17 a.m. Wednesday were told a man entered the business, pointed a handgun at a cashier and customer, and demanded money from the cash drawer and safe.
After taking an undisclosed amount of cash, the man told the cashier and customer to lie on the ground, then drove away in a Dodge SUV, police said.
The witnesses' description of the man, along with the demands made during the robbery, matched those in similar armed robberies in recent months and, based on that, investigators identified Hill as a suspect, Gaylor said.
Waukegan police later found the Dodge SUV and took Hill into custody at about 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, Gaylor said.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for Hill's residence and found a handgun and other evidence connected to the armed robbery, authorities said.
Sheriff John D. Idleburg expressed his gratitude for the efforts of Waukegan and Gurnee police officers in a statement Thursday.
Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said Thursday that some of his top prosecutors would continue their work on the case.