Murder suspect took part in scheme to harass motorists during Back of the Yards slaying, prosecutors say
Using a speed bump and an open water hydrant, a 19-year-old man trapped a woman inside a car while he fatally shot her in the Back of the Yards neighborhood in June, Cook County prosecutors said Saturday.
A judge Saturday denied bail for Roberto Rojas, who was charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Fhee Dariana Hernandez-Castillo, 20, on June 11 in the 4700 block of South Rockwell Street, said police and prosecutors during a hearing that was livestreamed on YouTube.
The 8:50 p.m. attack was caught on private video surveillance that showed Rojas was one of several people harrasing motorists while blocking cars from passing by using a speed bump and an open water hydrant, prosecutors said.
Hernandez-Castillo had been sitting in one of those cars with her boyfriend when the assailant, allegedly Rojas, approached on foot and fired shots while yelling gang slogans, according to police.
Hernandez-Castillo was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead about two hours later, at 10:22 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
“This was a scheme to trap individuals to commit a violent crime,” the judge said before denying bail. “Their only option was to run him over or become a victim of a crime.”
Rojas’ attorney, a public defender, said he is a father of a 2-year-old and is expecting another child. Rojas, of the 2200 block of South California Avenue, is due back in court on Tuesday.
