Mateo Zastro, 3, male, Hispanic/Latino, was riding in the back seat of his mother's SUV with his three siblings on Chicago's Southwest Side when a red car pulled alongside near Marquette Road and Kostner Avenue just after 8:38 p.m. on Friday, September 30, 2022. A man in the back seat of the other vehicle opened fire, striking Mateo in the head. He was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and pronounced dead in the early hours of Saturday, October 1, 2022.
Investigators initially described the shooting as stemming from a road-rage encounter that began on Cicero Avenue. According to later court filings, Mateo's mother realized she was being followed, circled the block, and the shooter's car cut them off and ambushed them. Up to six rounds were fired into the family's SUV; the siblings were not physically injured but witnessed the attack.
After a lengthy investigation, Chicago police announced in July 2024 that Govanni Hernandez, 32, of Berwyn, had been arrested and charged in connection with the killing. Prosecutors and police said DNA evidence linked him to the red car involved. He was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and murder with a strong probability of death or injury.
Hernandez appeared in court on July 19, 2024, where prosecutors argued he posed a danger to the community; reporting from that hearing also summarized the state's allegation that he and his wife were returning from picking up a gun at a suburban firing range when the confrontation unfolded. The case remains pending in Cook County court.
