Bail was denied Friday for a teen couple accused of fatally shooting a man and firing shots at two 17-year-old girls — wounding one — in separate attacks in December on the Northwest Side.
Hader Garcia, 18, and his girlfriend 17-year-old Autumn Diaz, are each charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Victor Gutierrez, 20, in Irving Park on Dec 11, Cook County prosecutors said.
Four days later, on Dec. 15, Garcia and Diaz were involved in a drug deal in Albany Park that ended with Diaz firing shots at the two girls, prosecutors said. Garcia and Diaz were each charged with two felony counts of attempted murder in that attack.
In the Gutierrez murder, surveillance video captured a white SUV following Gutierrez as he drove in the 3700 block of West Belle Plaine Avenue about 10:35 p.m., prosecutors said. Several shots were fired from the SUV, striking Gutierrez in the back of the head. He died days later at Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
In one video, the driver of the SUV is seen wearing a dark sweatshirt with distinctive white writing on the left sleeve.
Days later, Garcia and Diaz drove to the 4700 block of North Avers about 9:20 a.m. to sell marijuana to the two 17-year-old girls, prosecutors said. The girls showed up in a green Honda CRV, and Diaz walked up to the car and smashed the driver’s side window with a brick before dragging one of the teens from the car.
The other teen came to her friend’s defense, prompting Garcia to get involved in the fight, prosecutors said. Diaz retrieved a gun from her vehicle while the two teens got back into their car.
Diaz opened fire, grazing one of the girls in the lower back. The other teen suffered scratches from shattered glass, prosecutors said.
The next day, the teen’s green Honda was set on fire and Diaz sent the teen a video on Facebook messenger of the car in flames, prosecutors said. Diaz was charged with arson in connection with this incident.
The couple’s crime spree came to an end on Jan. 7, when both were arrested for possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Two guns were recovered from the vehicle, among them a Glock 9mm handgun adorned with “Supreme” stickers on both sides of an extended magazine.
Ballistics revealed that the Glock was used in the Gutierrez murder and the attack against the girls, prosecutors said. Investigators were also able to link the gun to other crimes, including the murder of Richard Robinette, 35, on Dec. 18 in the 4700 block of West Irving Park Road.
Garcia was previously accused of being the shooter and driver in that case and is facing a separate first-degree murder charge.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for Garcia’s and Diaz’s phones, which were also recovered during their Jan. 7 arrest. The search revealed photos and videos of the couple holding the Glock.
Photos and video were also found of Garcia wearing the black sweatshirt with distinctive white writing that was captured in video of the Gutierrez shooting. Images of Garcia next to the white SUV used in the shooting were also recovered from the phones.
Garcia and Diaz are due back in court May 26.
