Partner of officer who shot and killed Adam Toledo testifies in gun case of man who was allegedly with the teen before he was slain
In March of last year, Chicago police Officer Corina Gallegos rode in an unmarked car with her partner, Officer Eric Stillman, to a Southwest Side intersection to check out a call of gunfire alerted by ShotSpotter technology, she recalled in court Wednesday.
The officers didn’t find anyone when they arrived, Gallegos testified, but drove through an alley and eventually came across Adam Toledo, 13, and Ruben Roman, 23. The two ran, Gallegos said, and the officers pursued. Gallegos fell back to handcuff Roman.
Shortly after, she heard a gunshot, she said.
Gallegos described a series of events that preceded the fatal shooting of Toledo by her partner, a slaying that spurred protests, particularly after body-worn camera and surveillance footage of his death was made public. She testified at the Leighton Criminal Court Building as Roman stands trial accused of firing a gun prior to Toledo’s death.
The gun case, proceeding as a bench trial before Cook County Judge Charles Burns, offered further glimpses into the night Toledo was killed. His death, as one of the youngest people shot and killed by Chicago police in recent years, roiled the city and spurred calls for reform to the Police Department’s foot pursuit policy.
Roman is charged with three felony counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and one felony count of recklessly discharging a firearm, charges that are not related to Toledo’s death but rather stem from his alleged actions while he was with the teen just before the shooting.The trial will continue Thursday.
Assistant State’s Attorney John Henning said during opening statements that surveillance video from a church captured Roman firing a gun as a car drove by before officers called to the area via ShotSpotter took him into custody. He said gunshot residue was found on gloves Roman dropped that night.
Roman’s attorneys argued that no witnesses or forensic evidence can definitively tie Roman to the gun.
Celeste Addyman, an assistant public defender, said a “lengthy and thorough investigation” was undertaken because of the police shooting.
“However at end of the trial, the court will know that none of this forensic evidence conclusively ties Mr. Roman to being the shooter,” she said.
Prosecutors say Roman was with Toledo on March 29, 2021, before he was shot, and they allege Roman fired the gun, bringing police to the area near 2400 block of South Sawyer Avenue in Little Village.
Around 2:30 a.m., Roman can be seen on camera footage walking with Toledo when Roman fired seven or eight shots as a vehicle drove by before the two ran away, prosecutors alleged. The gunfire was detected by ShotSpotter and two police officers arrived on scene, prosecutors said.
Gallegos testified that she and Stillman saw the pair while they drove in a nearby alley.
“As soon as they observed us, they started to run,” she said.
The officers got out of the SUV and chased them on foot, she testified. Stillman pushed Roman to the ground and ran after Toledo, Gallegos said. She stayed back to handcuff Roman.
After she heard a shot, Gallegos went to her partner and saw officers doing chest compressions on Toledo.
Video released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates police shootings, showed Toledo tossing a gun behind a fence before he was fatally shot by Stillman. Gallegos testified she later found the gun on the other side of the fence.
After tossing the gun, Toledo turned toward the officer raising his hands, according to the video. When announcing her office would not charge Stillman, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said the actions happened “almost simultaneously.”
During cross examination, Gallegos told Roman’s attorneys that she did not see Roman with a weapon nor did she see Roman wearing the gloves that tested positive for gunshot residue.
Prosecutors initially sought to charge Roman with a felony count of child endangerment, a charge that would have directly tied him to the 13-year-old’s death. The charge, though, was absent when Roman was indicted.
Defense attorneys at the time said Roman did not have a role in the teen’s killing, with an assistant public defender arguing at his bail hearing in 2021 that Toledo “is dead at the hand of the Chicago police officers, not my client.”
Later, Foxx said her office ultimately determined the evidence did not support bringing child-endangerment charges against Roman.
“Essentially, the actions of Mr. Roman were not the reasons for Adam Toledo’s death,” she said.
The Police Department’s policy on foot pursuits came under scrutiny after the shooting of Toledo and others, including from the independent monitor reviewing CPD’s progress in complying with a sweeping consent decree that orders reforms.
The department released its final, revised foot pursuit policy earlier this year.
