Miguel Vazquez charged with killing Renee Soto, injuring three of his family members

Jeff Mayes — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 17:00:04 -0500

By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

A Northwest Side man was charged with gunning down 21-year-old Renee Soto and seriously injuring three of the dead man's cousins as they sat on the steps enjoying the summer evening in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood last June.

Miguel Vazquez | Cook County sheriff's office

Soto died on the scene after Miguel Vazquez shot him in the back and arm as Soto's cousin's young children—ages 3, 8 and 9—played in the front yard in the 2900 block of North Kilpatrick, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Bridget O'Brien said in court.

The 31-year-old father of those children was shot when he tried to push his family members "who were frozen with fear by Vazquez's actions” inside the home, O'Brien said.

He remains paralyzed from the waist down.

That man's 17-year-old sister is now blind in the left eye as the result of Vazquez's June 21 shooting spree, O'Brien said.

The teenager said she saw Vazquez but thought he was just running across the street until she saw him raise his gun toward her, O'Brien said.

That was the last thing she saw before she was shot in the face and arm.

The wounded siblings' 28-year-old brother was leaning against the family home laughing and talking when he noticed Vazquez standing alone in a neighbor's yard opening fire on his family, O'Brien said.

He tried to run through a gangway but was struck in the left side and arm.

Vazquez, 20, is a purported member of a gang, O'Brien said.

Neither Soto nor his three injured family members have gang ties, according to O'Brien, who offered no motive for the shootings.

Soto and his relatives would often sit outside the porch in the summer after dinner, O'Brien said.

At the time of the shooting, neighbor Nelson Mojica heard six to 10 shots.

"Police pulled a lot of children out of there, some of them were crying and carrying bags of their belongings," Mojica said.

"It sounded like fireworks," said Mojica's wife, Danielle.

Vasquez, of the 2400 block of Neva Avenue, was ordered held without bond Wednesday for murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm charges.

He is a graduate of Steinmetz College Prep and currently works as a maintenance man at a temp agency, his attorney said.

Recent immigrant, killed Friday, feared neighborhood violence

John Carpenter — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 15:52:25 -0500

Renee Soto enjoyed the simple things about his new home in Chicago, like coming home from work and walking to the store. But the 21-year-old Mexican immigrant was nervous about gang violence in his Belmont Cragin neighborhood, and often asked one of his cousins tag along.

“He always asked me to go to the store with him, because he was scared to go by himself,” said Esteban Blancas, 18, his younger cousin.

Soto’s fears were realized Friday evening, when a man opened fire on him and his cousins as they sat on their porch in the 2900 block of N. Kilpatrick. It was just before 8 p.m., and Blancas said Soto and his cousins were doing what they usually did on warm evenings.

“They were just, like, chilling out, having fun, joking with each other,” he said, standing in the door of his house and pointing down at the front steps and the small yard beyond. Blancas said a man approached from the street nearby, and “some words were spoken,” then the man started shooting. No arrests have been made in the case.

Blancas said he was at church at the time, and got a call from a friend that there had been gunfire. By the time he got home, Soto was dead and Blancas’ mother gave him the news.

“My cousin was special to me. He was a good person,” he said.

Soto moved to the Chicago from Mexico four months ago, and was a hard-working man, doing construction projects with another cousin, Blancas said.

“When he wasn’t working,m he loved to play with his cousins. He loved to play baseball,” Blancas said.

Blancas added that this kind of violence is unusual on his block.

“I’ve been here, like, eight or nine years. Nothing like this has ever happened,” he said.

- John Carpenter; jcarpenter@suntimes.com

Renee Soto | Homicide Watch Chicago

Miguel Vazquez charged with killing Renee Soto, injuring three of his family members

Recent immigrant, killed Friday, feared neighborhood violence