A 17-year-old Chicago boy is being tried as an adult for murder after he allegedly killed 70-year-old Yvonne Ruzich in the last of a string of attempted carjackings.
Malique Long was arrested outside his home on Friday, then held without bail after he appeared in court on Saturday. He is accused of shooting dead the grandmother outside the convenience store where she worked on August 16.
Police said Long approached Ruzich's vehicle and began shooting without hesitation outside the deadly Hegewisch incident on Baltimore Avenue.
Long and the other juvenile, wearing head-to-toe black and gray respectively, got out of their vehicle brandishing guns and approached the two cars.
The gray-clad youth stepped between Ruzich and her stepson's cars with Long close behind. The stepson saw the suspect in gray and tried to alert his mother, telling her to drive away.
The boy in gray fired one round into the woman's car before the drove away, police said.
A second unknown youth then got out of the backseat of the Saturn and behind the wheel, the youth in gray got into the backseat and Long rode shotgun. Ruzich's car crashed into a bike rack and the sidewalk after moving half a block .
The three young men fired at least seven shots from a second gun into her vehicle at this point, police said. The victim's body was laden with four gunshot wounds, one located in the center-right of her back. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Between the spot where the initial shot was fired and the subsequent shots further up the street, detectives found two different types of shell casings. Long fired at least seen shots into Ruzich's vehicle after she crashed her car, according to prosecutors.
People are still searching for the two youths that took park in the alleged carjackings and murder along with Malique Long (pictured left)
'We know who we’re looking for, and you know, the community that does know who did this – if they could help us out at all, they also know,” said Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan to CBS Chicago regarding the apprehension of the two yet-unknown suspects
The gray-clad youth stepped between Ruzich and her stepson's cars with Long close behind. The stepson saw the suspect in gray and tried to alert his mother, telling her to drive away
The three young men fired at least seven shots from a second gun into her vehicle at this point, police said. The victim's body was laden with four gunshot wounds, one located in the center-right of her back. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Before the group approached Ruzich, they were involved in the theft of seven other cars within a span of eight hours, police said. Long has yet to be charged for any of these carjackings.
At 3am, prosecutors said, long and one of the two other juveniles blocked the driver of the Saturn Aura they would later use to approach Ruzich. They drove away while the victim's iPhone was still tracking GPS inside the vehicle, leading to Long's arrest.
Long and another person were seen at a Citgo gas station on Michigan Avenue, where the pair bought rolling papers.
Papers found in the stolen Saturn have Long's fingerprints on them, police said - Long was caught purchasing them on the store's CCTV footage. A Chevrolet Equinox that was also parked at the gas station had been reported stolen at 2 am.
At 2:25 am, the group tried unsuccessfully to steal a Nissan Altima - one suspect in all gray and the other in all black told the cars passengers to get out, but instead the driver peeled away and the group fired their guns at the car's tailgate.
At 3am, prosecutors said, long and one of the two other juveniles blocked the driver of the Saturn Aura they would later use to approach Ruzich. They drove away while the victim's iPhone was still tracking GPS inside the vehicle, leading to Long's arrest
Soon after at 2:37 am, two young men in black robbed a man of his 2009 Chevrolet Traverse at gunpoint. This vehicle had the owner's temporary ID inside.
The location records of the earlier victim's iPhone show that the group arrived at 1111 May Street in Hammond, which prosecutors said is Long's family home.
Long has one daughter and lives with his mother, police said. He attended Hammond High School and was raised as a foster child.
Ruzich's friends and family rejoiced when Long's capture was announced on Friday.
'Everybody just clapped and stood up. It as unbelievable,' said the late Ruzich's boyfriend Phillip Mcgivney.
Police are calling upon the public to help find the other two young men involved in the killing and earlier thefts.
'We know who we’re looking for, and you know, the community that does know who did this – if they could help us out at all, they also know,” said Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan to CBS Chicago.
Long will appear for a preliminary hearing in court on Tuesday, August 31.
Theft, murders, shooting incidents and sexual assaults are all up in the city, according to police statistics
The killing comes as theft, murders, shooting incidents and sexual assaults are all up in the city, according to police statistics.
Thefts are up 10 percent over the same period last year, with 7,086 recorded in 2021 compared to 6,466 in 2020.
Murders meanwhile saw a 4 percent jump, with 499 recorded so far in 2021 compared to 480 in the same period last year.
Shootings also jumped with 2,198 recorded in 2021 compared to 1,968 last year, a 12 percent increase.
Rapes saw the most dramatic spike of 22 percent, with 1,281 recorded in 2021 compared to 1,052 last year.
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