Latino male Juan A. Medina Jr., 14, was killed on December 12, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois. Just after 4:20 p.m., the 14-year-old boy stood outside on the 3500 block of West 61st Place in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood with his grandfather, Mario Medina, 65, when a silver Kia Soul pulled up and gunfire erupted. Both victims lived on that block. The attack unfolded in daylight, around 4:23 p.m., on the city's Southwest Side.
Gunmen inside the Kia Soul opened fire. Juan A.
Medina was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:41 p.m., while his grandfather was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. Police said two males were involved and that the vehicle fled west on 61st Place.
Neighbors described a barrage of bullets, and a day later the block was quiet, residents reluctant to speak. A crisis responder, Andrew Holmes, said there had been some kind of visit or altercation moments before the silver car pulled up and the shooting started; the precise relationship between those present and the assailants remained unclear.
By the end of that week, police arrested a 16 year old boy on Friday, December 15, in the 6700 block of South Artesian Avenue. The next day, authorities announced he had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the killings.
As of that announcement, he was described as one of two suspects, and the second had not yet been apprehended. Detectives continued to investigate.
