Chicago police announced five new murder charges against a man they say killed six people within a nine-month span in 2020 when he was a teenager.
Antonio Reyes, who is now 21 years old, was recently accused of five felony charges of first-degree murder and four felony charges of attempted first-degree murder. Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling announced these charges during a news briefing the next day.
The police superintendent expressed his shock at the disregard Reyes showed for human life. He stated, “It is hard to understand how someone can so easily end another person’s life, let alone multiple lives in a single year.”
“One victim was killed when he went to the gas station to buy a pop early one evening,” Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke said.
“Another victim was sitting in a parked car with a friend on Palm Sunday afternoon when he was shot and killed.
One of the victims, who tragically lost his life, was simply with his family buying a new puppy one afternoon. He was shot and seriously injured in front of his three children, eventually succumbing to his wounds months later.
While in custody, Reyes also allegedly tried to kill his cellmate with a shank, O’Neill Burke said.
“Not once have these detectives forgotten why they do this job,” Snelling said.
“They investigated these cases for more than four years in the memory of the victims, and the family members of these victims, and also our community members who have had to suffer through this trauma.”
Authorities say they have no evidence the victims were connected to each other and had not met Reyes previously.
Investigators have no reason to suspect Reyes “had any reason to target them,” the state’s attorney said.
The recovery of a 40-calibre handgun in summer 2020 provided a significant key in the investigation, helping detectives see a relationship to other scenes where similar casings had matched the firearm, police said.
Additionally, Reyes’ social media footprint was “fairly significant,” allowing detectives to link social media postings to some of the killings, according to police.
“We’re also going to continue to look at additional cases to see associates that he may have been with and their role in those incidents,” Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti said.
Claudio Cassio, 21, was one of the six people Reyes is accused of killing.
His mother, Nohemi Cossio, told CNN affiliate WLS she continues to mourn the loss of her son.
“It’s been a long time coming. I almost felt like we would never see this day,” she said.
“It’s, you know, part of the healing process. And my son will have justice, along with all these other innocent victims.”
Reyes pleaded not guilty to all new charges brought against him this week at an arraignment Tuesday.
CNN is attempting to determine whether he has an attorney.
He is due back in court on March 18 for a detention hearing on these cases.
He is being held without bail, according to the state’s attorney office.
