Aladin Jamaleddin, a 25-year-old man, was fatally shot on July 21, 2019, in Evergreen Park, Illinois. The incident occurred around 7:15 p.m. in the 9100 block of South St. Louis Avenue. When Evergreen Park police arrived at the scene, they found Jamaleddin on the ground, bleeding from his face. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 7:52 p.m.
An autopsy revealed that he died from a gunshot wound to the head.
The investigation revealed that the shooting might have been related to a drug transaction involving Xanax. Jamaleddin had been in contact with someone about a Xanax sale, and his cell phone records indicated numerous texts and phone calls regarding the sale. On the day of the shooting, Jamaleddin was sitting in his car in his driveway when he was approached by Nicholas Hernandez, a 17-year-old alleged member of the Crazy Get Down Boys street gang. Hernandez shot Jamaleddin in the head with a M&P Bodyguard 380 pistol after a brief exchange about the Xanax.
After the shooting, Jamaleddin's mother confronted Hernandez, who pointed a gun at her before fleeing the scene in a Toyota Rav 4 driven by a female accomplice. The next day, police found the Rav 4 parked in the 8800 block of South Kilbourn Avenue, occupied by the female driver and two other individuals. The female driver identified Hernandez as the shooter, and police brought him in for questioning. However, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office did not approve first-degree murder charges at that time due to outstanding requests for Jamaleddin's cell phone records, and Hernandez was released without being charged.
A warrant was later issued for Hernandez's arrest on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery. He was arrested on his seventeenth birthday and appeared before Cook County Judge John Mahoney. Hernandez was detained without bail, and the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force, along with Evergreen Park police, continued their investigation into the homicide.
