The FBI has doubled its reward to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a Milwaukee Kings street gang member accused of murdering a 19-year-old National Guardsman in Belmont Cragin on the Fourth of July 2021. The development comes nearly five years after local prosecutors declined to approve murder charges in the case.
Joseph “Troubles” Matos, 43, remains at large after federal prosecutors unsealed racketeering and murder charges against him in 2024 in connection with the death of Chrys Carvajal, who was shot and killed as he stepped away from a family BBQ to retrieve something from his car in the 2200 block of North Lockwood, authorities said.
Federal prosecutors allege Matos and Gary “Gotti” Roberson, 42, killed Carvajal to maintain and increase their standing within the Milwaukee Kings. If convicted of murder in aid of racketeering, both men face mandatory life in prison, and federal officials said the death penalty remains an option.
Roberson was arrested when the charges were announced and is awaiting trial in federal custody, but Matos has not been found.
The federal charges came nearly three years after Chicago police detectives asked the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to charge a then-38-year-old high-ranking Milwaukee Kings member with Carvajal’s murder. Investigators presented video evidence, three eyewitnesses, and information placing the suspect’s car and phone at or near the scene, a source told CWB Chicago at the time.
Cook County prosecutors, then led by State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, declined to sign off, saying the evidence was insufficient, and directed investigators to gather more. The state charges were never filed.
Ald. Gilbert Villegas, whose 36th Ward includes the area where Carvajal was killed, publicly criticized the state’s failure to prosecute.
“Video evidence and three eyewitnesses have been presented” to prosecutors, Villegas wrote on Twitter after the rejection. “This family deserves justice as well as the hundreds of families who have unsolved murders pending.”
The FBI describes Matos as heavily tattooed, with “M-Town Kings” and “1300” on either side of his neck, “Move in Silence” on his right hand, “Trust no one” on his left hand, “MOST WANTED” across his stomach, “Heavensent, Hellbound” on his forearms, and “Jesus Christopher Matos” on his chest.
Anyone with information about Matos’s whereabouts can call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov. Tips can be submitted anonymously.
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