16-Year-Old Boy, Man Charged In Connection With Girl's Killing

CHICAGO — Two people, including a 16-year-old boy, have been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of an 8-year-old girl who was killed while crossing the street with her mother in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood on Saturday, police said.

On Wednesday, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown announced the arrest and charges. The juvenile, who has not yet been identified, was charged with murder, attempted murder and two counts of discharging a firearm in the killing of Melissa Ortega. The juvenile was arrested on Tuesday.

The second suspect, Xavier Guzman, 27, was identified as the driver of a vehicle by police and was charged with murder and attempted murder. Brown said Wednesday that the two pulled into an alley in Little Village and intended to shoot a 29-year-old man, who was also hit in the back by gunfire while he was running away from the scene.

Guzman was arrested after being stopped in a vehicle that police say was used during the attack, police said.

Brown said that the shooting is gang-related and said that Ortega was not the intended target. He said the pair was targeting a rival gang member, who was standing on a street corner with two other gang members. Brown also said vehicle also parked nearby was hit by gunfire and that passengers narrowly avoided injury.

The young girl and her mother were crossing the street together just before 3 p.m. when the third-grade girl was hit in the head by one of the gunshots, Brown said.

"Melissa was a precious little girl, and it is unacceptable that she is the latest Chicagoan to fall victim to senseless gang violence," Brown said at a news conference Wednesday. "As a city, we mourn. We mourn her loss because no child should know violence and no parent should have to endure something like this."

He added: "What happened to Melissa shouldn't happen to anyone anywhere."

A local pastor read a statement from the girl's mother, who said that her daughter will be buried in Mexico. The family had just moved to Chicago from Mexico six months ago. As of Wednesday afternoon, a GoFundMe effort had raised more than $73,000 to help the family return to Mexico to bury Melissa.

The girl's mother said that her family came to Chicago with dreams and aspirations and imagined a better life once they arrived. She said they came in search of the American Dream, but "instead get to live a nightmare for the rest of my life."

“Words cannot describe the pain I have been feeling," Melissa's mother said in a statement read by the pastor. "On January 22 I lost my greatest treasure in my life. I lost my princess. She was the reason I got up in the morning. Everything I did for her."

She added: “To the aggressor. I forgive you. You were a victim too. As a 16-year-old, the community failed you, just like it failed my precious baby."

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx called the 8-year-old girl the personification of the American dream, saying she was senselessly gunned down while walking with her mother. Foxx said she is committed to getting justice for the Ortega family and thanked community members for helping police identify suspects.

Foxx called the killing of the young girl "horrific", adding "Melissa is an American dream that has seamlessly and senselessly taken from all of us."

"I have no words that are of comfort to you, but I am committed to getting you justice," Foxx said.

The suspects will face a bond hearing at 11 a.m. Thursday. The juvenile will be tried as an adult, Foxx said. Foxx said the teen has a juvenile record, which she said she will outline on Thursday when he appears in court.

Like Brown and Foxx, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said that eliminating gun violence in Chicago must become a bigger priority for leaders. Brown said that police remain concerned about the possibility of retaliatory shootings in Little Village and remain on high alert in the neighborhood as investigators continue to piece together the events that led to the 8-year-old girl losing her life.

"We've lost too many children to violence in Chicago," Lightfoot said on Wednesday. "This tragedy, sitting on top of so many others, has scarred and broken the heart of our city. Imagine coming to Chicago to make a better life for your family and then losing your child literally as you're walking down the street, hand-in-hand, thinking about a lighter moment and having that child disappear in hail of gunfire."

She added: "No one —no one should have to endure this kind of pain."