Family of slain National Guard soldier calls on Foxx to file murder charges

Family members of Chrys Carvajal, the 19-year-old Illinois National Guard soldier who was murdered last month in a random drive-by shooting, are demanding Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx file charges in the case.

“We have come here today to demand justice,” Carvajal’s sister, Jennifer Ramirez, 25, said at a news conference in the Loop.

“My brother’s life was taken by a coward. This coward did not know my brother. He did not even speak to my brother. He simply saw an opportunity to kill and shot with no remorse whatsoever,” she said.

Carvajal, who had recently completed basic training, was attending a party July 3 in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood when he was shot twice about 1 a.m. while retrieving something from his car.

Chicago detectives have a suspect — a highranking Milwaukee Kings gang member — and presented evidence Sunday to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, which rejected a murder charge, police said.

Police identified the vehicle used in the shooting and obtained data putting the suspect’s cellphone in the area of the shooting. The 38-year-old man jumped out of the car and randomly shot Carvajal, police said.

A Foxx spokesman, in an emailed statement, said the evidence, including video and witness accounts, was “insufficient to meet our burden of proof to file murder charges at this time.”

A police source said they’re frustrated a murder charge was rejected in Carvajal’s killing — the latest grievance in the continuing tension between the police department and state’s attorney’s office.

For months, police Supt. David Brown has pointed a finger at Foxx, saying her office isn’t tough on violent criminals. Foxx has fired back, saying police need to do more to build solid cases against suspected shooters instead of focusing on people who illegally possess firearms.

Carvajal, who lived in Portage Park and aspired to become a Chicago police officer, was a graduate of Chicago Academy High School.