A Humboldt Park man is accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s new partner with a single gunshot as the victim waited outside the woman’s home with her child just steps away. Surveillance cameras captured the whole thing, including the woman’s horrified screams as she saw the killer running away and yelled his name, prosecutors said Sunday.
Jonathan Roldan, 35, is charged with first-degree murder in the January 23 murder of Andrew Garay as he sat in his car in the 3500 block of West Wabansia Avenue.
According to a detention filing by prosecutors, Garay had been in a relationship with Roldan’s ex-girlfriend for four years. Roldan and the woman share two children together.
Around 8 p.m. on the night of the murder, Garay picked the woman up from work, stopped to collect one of her children from a friend’s house, and drove them both to her home. Prosecutors said he dropped them off in front of the home and sat in his 2020 Nissan Murano, waiting for them to get inside.
As they neared the front door, Roldan emerged from a gangway, walked to the grassy strip between the sidewalk and the street alongside Garay’s car, raised his right hand, and fired one shot through the front passenger window, prosecutors said, striking Garay in the right forehead and temple area. His car rolled forward roughly two car lengths before coming to a stop. Roldan ran back into the gangway toward the alley, according to the allegations.
A Ring camera allegedly captured footage of the murder and Roldan’s escape. Another camera system captured audio of Garay’s partner screaming “Yoni!” — Roldan’s nickname — “what the f*** did you do? What the f*** did you do?” as he ran away.
She called 911 and identified Roldan as the shooter on CPD bodycam footage, according to prosecutors. They said the woman had loaned Roldan her white 2022 Jeep Compass before the shooting. License plate readers captured the vehicle traveling toward her home in the time leading up to the attack, according to the filing.
Judge James Murphy III ordered Roldan detained pending trial. Roldan has a prior conviction for animal cruelty, prosecutors noted.
In a GoFundMe launched after Garay’s death, Samanth Knutt remembered him as “a kind-hearted man. He loved everyone. He was the kind of man to give you the shirt off his back even if it was the last thing he had. He had a personality that lit up any room he walked into. He was a hardworking and dedicated father.”
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