Ricky Vera, a 50-year-old Hispanic male, was tragically killed on December 11, 2022, in Chicago, Illinois. The incident occurred outside Vera Lounge, a bar owned by his brother, in the Portage Park neighborhood. The fatal shooting took place around 2:30 a.m. during a birthday party for Mariah Vera, Ricky's niece. An altercation at the party led to the suspect, Samuel Parsons-Salas, being asked to leave.
Parsons-Salas, a 32-year-old recently paroled felon, retrieved a gun from a vehicle and opened fire on the crowd gathered outside the bar. Ricky Vera was shot and pronounced dead at the scene, along with two other victims: 24-year-old Mercedes Tavares and 26-year-old Mario Pozuelos. Mariah Vera, 25, was critically injured after being shot in the head while trying to tend to her father's wounds.
Samuel Parsons-Salas, who had a history of violent crime, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. He was also charged with armed kidnapping for taking a woman against her will after the shooting. Parsons-Salas had previously been convicted of a 2009 home invasion in which two people were killed. He was released on parole in September 2022, just a few months before the shooting at Vera Lounge. The Cook County State's Attorney's Office stated that the evidence did not meet the burden of proof to move forward with the murder charges for the 2009 case, leading to his plea deal for home invasion.
The shooting at Vera Lounge was captured on surveillance video, showing Parsons-Salas targeting victims at point-blank range. The graphic footage depicted the shooter getting into a dark SUV and fleeing the scene. The incident prompted Chicago police to issue a summary closure for Vera Lounge, shutting down the business until further notice. The community and the victims' families were left devastated by the senseless violence, with calls for justice and stricter measures to prevent such tragedies in the future.
