Gabriella Arellano, 17, a Hispanic/Latina female, was found late Sunday morning in a narrow East Side alley off the 11000 block of South Mackinaw Avenue, where police said she had suffered two gunshot wounds to the head. First responders pronounced her dead at the scene around 10 a.m., and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office later confirmed her identity.
The discovery cut short a life still in its first chapters, the alleyway framed by garages and back fences becoming an impromptu place of mourning as word spread through the neighborhood.
Detectives with the Chicago Police Department’s Area Two opened a homicide investigation and canvassed for evidence, but officials did not immediately say what led up to the shooting. By day’s end, no one had been taken into custody, and authorities urged anyone with information to come forward. The killing joined the city’s ongoing ledger of gun violence cases for 2025, with public records and memorial pages noting her death on October 26 in Chicago.
As the investigation continues, the essential contours remain stark: a teenager found in an alley, a family left without answers, and a community bracing for updates that had yet to arrive. Police have released no details about a suspect or suspects, and there have been no arrests reported in connection with the case.
