Mom wails: ‘ Why did he have to kill my son?’
The mother of a slain 19-year-old wailed after laying eyes on her son’s alleged killer.
“Why did he have to kill my son?” she cried out Sunday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
Just moments before, Manuel Gonzalez’s bond had been set at $1 million in the Wicker Park murder.
Gonzalez, 29, of the 2600 block of North Sacramento, is charged with fatally shooting Miguel Delgado early Saturday in the 1500 block of North Milwaukee, across the street from Nick’s Beer Garden, shortly after closing time about 2:20 a.m., authorities said. Delgado died minutes later.
Gonzalez also is accused of trying to kill two others, a 20-year-old and an 18-year-old, authorities said.
Gonzalez allegedly shot Delgado in the head after he and two others got into an argument with Delgado and two other men “regarding rival gang affiliation,” Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Christina Brewer said in court Sunday.
The verbal argument escalated and Delgado “threw a punch” at one of Gonzalez’s pals, Brewer said. “The defendant pulled out a gun and fatally shot the victim in the head,” she said
Then one of Gonzalez’s associates tried to hit an 18-year-old who was with Delgado, and Gonzalez “turned and fired a shot” at him. Gonzalez also allegedly shot in the direction of a 20-year-old, Brewer said. Those two men were not injured, she said.
Gonzalez and two others fled but were stopped by police. A .380 semiautomatic handgun, which matched the description of the gun used during the shooting, was recovered, Brewer said. Matching shell casings also were recovered, she said.
Two videos captured the shooting and the events leading up to it and what happened after, she said. That includes the confrontation and the “flight of the defendant,” Brewer said.
Witnesses at the scene and in a lineup identified Gonzalez, Brewer said. Police initially questioned two other people in connection with the shooting, but they were released without being charged. Gonzalez has a pending aggravated DUI and was out on bail, records show.
As Gonzalez was led away into the lockup, Delgado’s relatives shouted, “Murderer!”
Sheriff ’s deputies escorted Delgado’s family out of the courthouse.
The matriarch of the family was supported by her family as she wept and shrieked in Spanish: “Why did he have to take his life?”
Delgado wasn’t in a gang and held two jobs, said his brother, Juan Delgado, 22. He worked an overnight shift at a bakery in the northern suburbs where his father also works. He also worked as a cashier at a fastfood restaurant, he said. Delgado graduated from Kelvyn Park High School and planned to go to college to study nursing, his brother said.
“It was his only night off work this week,” said Juan Delgado, standing outside his family’s home in the Kelvyn Park neighborhood.