When federal brokers led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided a South Shore residential constructing early yesterday, it understandably raised eyebrows.
So what was that each one about? And why was that individual constructing focused?
On Tuesday night time, Ald. Raymond Lopez (fifteenth) claimed on Twitter that the Venezuela-based avenue gang Tren de Aragua was behind it.
“TdA’s took over the constructing,” Lopez wrote, including, “they won’t be missed — besides by @ChicagosMayor & the Leftinos!”
In truth, CWBChicago has realized the constructing raided by the feds was the positioning of a homicide the place a migrant was shot lifeless whereas pleading for his life, allegedly by a Tren de Aragua gang member. A person charged with the homicide final month allegedly informed a fellow jail inmate that he disposed of the sufferer’s physique by having it encased in concrete at a building web site.
Social media movies confirmed dozens of brokers raiding the five-story residence constructing at seventy fifth Road and South South Shore Drive throughout Tuesday’s nighttime raid. Not less than 30 individuals have been taken into custody, officers mentioned, with out releasing any names or particulars.
Gregory Bovino, who’s main the heightened immigration actions in Chicago, mentioned the operation focused TdA gang members. The FBI later confirmed that its brokers assisted within the operation.
This summer season, there was a a lot smaller, although extra lethal, raid on the similar residence constructing. The intruders that point weren’t federal brokers.
On the night of June 22, prosecutors mentioned, 25-year-old Venezuelan migrant Jose Coronado-Meza and two accomplices stormed into an residence within the complicated and confronted 31-year-old Gregori Arias. Arias and three pals, all migrants, have been hanging out within the unit after spending the day on the seashore.
The intruders tried to tug Arias out of the unit, however he resisted, pulled out his ID card, and insisted he had no issues with them, prosecutors mentioned. One among Coronado-Meza’s accomplices then shot Arias within the chest, knocking him to the ground, in response to prosecutors.
As Arias lay bleeding, one other confederate lifted his shirt to disclose a scar and mentioned Arias was accountable for it. Prosecutors mentioned Arias begged for his life and requested the group to name an ambulance.
As a substitute, Coronado-Meza allegedly walked up, pressed a handgun to the left facet of Arias’s head, and executed him.
Moments later, the three males fled as sirens approached. The witnesses additionally left, with Arias’s physique mendacity face-up on the lounge ground close to a radiator.
The subsequent morning, one witness mentioned the residence had been cleaned. One other witness went to the police to report the homicide. Primarily based on the witness’ account, investigators secured a warrant for the unit. Proof technicians used BlueStar know-how to detect hidden blood beneath laminate flooring and on a radiator cowl. DNA testing linked the samples to Arias’s toothbrush.
On July 6, Coronado-Meza was arrested for allegedly possessing a gun with a drum journal.
On the time of his arrest, police seized his cellular phone and located a video recorded within the residence the day after police executed the search warrant, prosecutors mentioned. The video allegedly confirmed a number of ground panels lacking within the precise areas the place technicians had eliminated them to check for blood. It additionally depicted the identical lounge furnishings and a bed room with pink partitions that the police documented whereas processing the scene.
Whereas in custody, Coronado-Meza confessed to a different inmate, saying he “completed off” Arias as a result of he wouldn’t cease crying, prosecutors mentioned. He allegedly informed the inmate he had a building contact who may get rid of our bodies, and that Arias had been entombed in concrete.
Witnesses later recognized Coronado-Meza because the shooter. One other girl mentioned she noticed him exterior the constructing with a suitcase shortly after the killing.
Coronado-Meza is charged with first-degree homicide, concealing a homicidal loss of life, two counts of aggravated illegal restraint, and aggravated illegal possession of a weapon. His native background consists of retail theft arrests, a pending misdemeanor hashish case, and the pending gun cost.
In 2023, Gregori Arias was featured in a Block Membership Chicago article about migrants who had established a barber store in Pritzker Park, subsequent to the Commonplace Membership migrant shelter within the Loop.
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