CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors charged three men on Thursday with murdering a rival gang member as he drove in Lakeview East more than four years ago. The accused men killed 30-year-old Victor Ochoa to maintain and increase their positions in the Ambrose street gang, officials said in a press release announcing the charges.
At the time of the shooting, Chicago police said Ochoa and other occupants of a Chevy Tahoe got into an “altercation” with a group of people in a Dodge Magnum in the 3200 block of North Sheffield around 2:30 a.m. on June 17, 2019.
A portion of the argument was captured on CPD surveillance video as the cars rolled south through the intersection of Belmont and Sheffield, and someone in the Magnum pointed a gun at the SUV. Both vehicles then sped off, with the Magnum chasing the Tahoe, police said.
Minutes later, as the vehicles headed south in the 2900 block of North Broadway, someone in the Magnum fired shots at the Tahoe, striking Ochoa in the head and shoulder, officials said. Investigators found shell casings along a stretch of Broadway that, during daytime hours, is a bustling retail, restaurant, and residential corridor.
The driver of Ochoa’s vehicle took him to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he died. Chicago police said the driver was uncooperative with investigators at the hospital. Ochoa is identified as a Latin King gang member online.
Today, federal prosecutors accused Chicago men, all of whom have significant criminal histories, of carrying out the murder.
Juan Alcaraz, 23, and 24-year-olds Victor Ramirez and Cameron Callison were scheduled to appear for a detention hearing in federal court Thursday afternoon after being arrested earlier in the day.
They are charged with murder in the aid of racketeering, a crime that carries a mandatory life sentence upon conviction and could result in the death penalty, the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago said. Callison is also charged with illegally possessing a handgun.
In the two weeks following the murder, Chicago police arrested all three men separately for firearms violations, CPD records show. All three were eventually convicted in those cases.
Ramirez was on bail for a felony gun charge and fleeing and eluding at the time of Ochoa’s murder. He is the 19th person CWBChicago has identified as someone charged with shooting, killing, or trying to shoot or kill someone in Chicago during 2019 while awaiting trial for a felony.
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