On July 13, 2023, a fatal shooting occurred at a Mariano's grocery store in Evergreen Park, Illinois, resulting in the death of 21-year-old Jailene Flores. Flores, an employee at the store, was shot in the back storage room by her boyfriend, Armoni Henry, also 21, from Chicago.
The incident happened around 9:12 a.m. when Henry followed Flores into the store and shot her multiple times. Police found Flores with several gunshot wounds, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. The shooting was captured on video from inside the store, which showed Henry following Flores before the altercation.
Armoni Henry and Jailene Flores had a history of issues, including previous confrontations in April, which led Flores to obtain an order of protection against Henry. However, the emergency order was never served and had expired by the time of the shooting. Henry and Flores had met in school and had also worked together at a nursing home in Oak Lawn earlier in the year.
Following the shooting, Henry fled the scene in his red Ford Focus. Within an hour, police were able to track him down using a license plate reader. He was arrested in the 1400-block of W. Thorndale Avenue in Chicago, where a 9mm handgun was recovered from his vehicle. Henry was charged with first-degree murder and appeared in bond court, where a Cook County judge denied him bail.
Henry's family acknowledged that he had mental health issues but were unaware of how he obtained the gun. His uncle, Henry Neal, expressed the family's love for Armoni and their efforts to support him despite his issues. The shooting was classified as a domestic incident, and police stated there was no threat to the public. The Mariano's store and surrounding areas were closed temporarily while the police conducted their investigation.
