Prosecutors said Sunday that a man shot and killed in West Town on the Fourth of July managed to Facetime with two witnesses before crashing and dying from his wounds. Rogelio Hermosillo, 25, was ordered held without bail on Saturday by Judge Susana Ortiz. He is charged with first-degree murder.
On July 4, around 9:45 p.m., Justin Williams, 33, left a holiday party in the 1300 block of North Rockwell where he had been celebrating with his best friend and others, according to prosecutor Lorraine Scaduto.
As Williams walked to his car, Hermosillo drove by in a Chrysler Sebring and shot him as he was about to enter his own car, according to Scaduto. All of the events were captured on video, she continued, but the shooter could not be identified from the footage. A man watching fireworks on a nearby rooftop saw the Sebring leaving the area with a single occupant, Scaduto said.
Williams was shot twice but was able to get into his car and drive away. He Facetimed his best friend and the friend’s girlfriend, who were still at the party, as he circled the block. He told them he had been shot, and they both noticed blood on his shirt near his stomach and side.
Williams crashed into a tree in the 2500 block of West Potomac and later died from the gunshot wounds.
Chicago police focused on the Sebring’s movements before and after the murder as they investigated the crime. Using private surveillance videos, city cameras, and license plate readers, they tracked the car and Hermosillo to various locations, including a convenience store where Hermosillo was recorded buying a six-pack of Modelo and leaving alone in the Sebring about 20 minutes before the murder, Scaduto said.
A CPD camera captured the Sebring in an alley behind a home where Hermosilo’s family lives eight minutes after the shooting, she said.
Police impounded the Sebring on July 5 and found two 9-millimeter shell casings inside the vehicle, Scaduto said. Investigators found gunshot residue in the front passenger side of the car, and Hermilo’s phone records put him at the murder scene, she alleged.
Hermosilo has no adult criminal convictions. According to his public defender, he works as a restaurant cook in Wrigleyville.
