Homicide charges for South Loop man

Alleged driver in double-slay arrested July 22 on Michigan Avenue

07/28/2010 10:00 PM

By MICAH MAIDENBERG
Editor

No Comments - Add Your Comment

Marcos Martinez, a resident of the 1500 block of S. Michigan, has been charged with two counts of first degree murder stemming out of a gang-related shooting that left two men dead on the Northwest Side in the spring of 2009.

On May 3 of that year, Martinez is alleged to have driven the triggerman in the shooting to the 4800 block of N. Troy in his 1991 two-door Mercury, according to Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Wearing a face mask, the gunman, who remains at large, exited the car to shoot and kill Eric Mendoza, 23, and Jose Mejia, 35, according to Conklin.

Martinez is then alleged to have driven both away from the scene of the shooting but not before he was identified by responding police officers and a witness. Martinez’s car was later found abandoned and on fire.

Police arrested Martinez in his South Loop home on July 22 around 11 a.m. He received no bail for the alleged murders at a hearing in on July 24.

Conklin said a motive for the slayings has not been discussed yet in court, but news reports from the time described the shooting as gang-related. Neither the state’s attorney’s office nor the police department would discuss Martinez’s gang affiliations.

A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for August 12.


No Comments - Add Your Comment