3 people found slain in Little Village apartment

All were bound and gagged, police say

By Carlos Sadovi and Robert Mitchum | Tribune reporters

May 1, 2008

The sound of gunfire has become so common in this neighborhood that when the downstairs residents of a two-flat in Little Village heard shots above them, they didn't call police.

Later, when they heard the sounds of banging and rummaging, they still weren't alarmed. It wasn't until a young woman from the building decided to check on her new neighbors and discovered a door ajar that police were called to the home in the 2800 block of South Kildare Avenue.

At about 6:40 a.m. Wednesday, police found the bodies of two men and a woman bound and gagged. They had been shot dead.

Police think the killings are drug-related. They found money counters, plastic bags and scales in the home, sources said, leading officers to think narcotics were being dealt there.

"We believe this is a targeted and associated act of violence," Ogden District Cmdr. Roberto Zavala said outside the two-story home Wednesday morning.

The couple living in the apartment had been there only a little more than two weeks, said a source and the building's owner. They had moved there from California with a son and had not yet signed a lease. Authorities have not released their identities.

A police source said that authorities are looking for a red Chevrolet Silverado sports-utility vehicle with California plates.

Zavala said the home was ransacked, but the door did not appear to have been forced open.

"We believe there is an association between the offender and the victims," Zavala said.

Neighbors said the house was notorious for having visitors at all hours of the night, and they speculated about illicit activity happening behind its doors. Others said that they hadn't seen any police attention or unusual activity since the three people had moved in.

Building owner Domingo Garcia said that the couple had been living at the apartment for only about 15 days. They paid him $300 in cash to remove the "For Rent" sign so they could move in and were planning to sign a lease Wednesday. He said they appeared to be in their 50s, and he thought that because of their age, they would be quiet tenants.

But on Monday, Garcia said, the couple told him they were going to move out Wednesday because there were too many gangs in the area. He said he didn't know anything about them and knew the man by only his first name, but he said they may have come from California. Police towed two cars from the block Wednesday, including an older-model Saab with California plates.

The couple had a son living with them who was a truck driver, he said. Yesterday, he didn't see the son's car there, he said.

Jessica Saldana, 22, a mother of three children, said that the increasing swell of violence made her more concerned than ever about their safety.

"This is the same block where they go to school," she said Wednesday morning. "We all worry about our kids, we can't even walk in the street. We always have to be careful."

Denise Buenrostro, 17, said that the neighborhood was mostly made up of quiet, good people, but that a few bad houses were bringing trouble to the area.

"There's good working people, and there are people who will make money whatever it takes," Buenrostro said. "I'm careful who I hang out with. People around here can get you killed or in trouble."

Rev. Marco Mercado, a priest at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, a block away from the scene of the homicide, said the neighborhood had been relatively calm of late. He added, though, that the community was concerned about the increasing gang presence. "There are lots of concerns among families and parents in the area, we try to keep our eyes on the kids," Mercado said. "It's an unfortunate reality. With the pressure that kids are under, it's hard for them to say no to gangs."

Mercado said he had been in the house where the shooting occurred about a month ago, bringing communion to an elderly couple that lived on the first floor. He said they were not worried at the time about anyone living in their building.

Neighbors pointed out that there had been another fatal shooting in the neighborhood last fall, at 30th Street and Kildare Avenue, steps away from the scene of Wednesday's homicide.

The discovery of the bodies comes a week after five people were found slain several miles away in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood. Police said they don't think the incidents are connected.

Tribune reporters Angela Rozas and David Heinzmann and freelance reporter Wendy Normandy contributed.

csadovi@tribune.com

rmitchum@tribune.com