No bail for pair charged with fatally shooting mother of top Ohio State football recruit, wounding 4 others

Police tape is tied to a fence at the scene where Ashley Griggs, 40, was killed and four others were wounded in a drive-by mass shooting near South Karlov Avenue and West Washington Boulevard in West Garfield Park, Monday, July 17. (Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times)

A judge Friday denied bail for two men charged with opening fire last month on a gathering in the Garfield Park neighborhood, killing the mother of a top Ohio State football recruit and wounding four others.

Manuel Bahamon, 22, and Ismael Lozada, 23, both face one count of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder, Chicago police announced Friday.

On July 16, Ashley Griggs and several other people gathered in the 4000 block of West Washington Boulevard after a Marshall High School reunion, according to a police report.

At about 2 a.m., an uncharged co-offender allegedly drove Bahamon and Lozada and three other witnesses past the gathering, prosecutors said. They had already driven by the group earlier in the night and seen them outside shooting dice, according to prosecutors.

Bahamon and Lozada then began shooting out the passenger windows of the car into the crowd of people, prosecutors said.

Griggs, 40, was hit ten times and was pronounced dead on arrival at Mount Sinai Medical Center, police said. Three men and another woman were wounded.

Ashley Griggs and her son, Carnell Tate. (Twitter)

Griggs's son Carnell Tate, now an Ohio State University freshman, was a standout football player at Marist High School and became a top recruit for OSU.

Tate signed a letter of intent with Ohio State in December of 2022 and enrolled in the school in January.

“The wait is finally over,” Griggs tweeted earlier this year as she showed off Tate’s No. 17 jersey for Ohio State.

There were 40 caliber shell casings recovered from the scene of the shooting, according to prosecutors.

During the attack, Bahamon accidentally shot Lozada in the arm and later brought him to Humboldt Park Health Center for treatment.

In the days following the attack, Bahamon sent multiple text messages to one of the witnesses about the shooting and its coverage in the news. He also sent messages about his “error of shooting his co-offender,” prosecutors said.

Bahamon has a pending unlawful use of a weapon charge while Lozada is on probation for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

Both men were ordered held without bail. Their next court date was set for Sept. 13.

Chicago Sun-Times reporter Michael O’Brien contributed.