Teenager Charged In 70-Year-Old's Shooting Death Denied Bail: CPD

CHICAGO — A teenager who has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a 70-year-old Hegewisch woman was denied bail Saturday by a Cook County judge.

The 17-year-old is accused of killing Yvonne Ruzich during an attempted carjacking on Aug. 16. Ruzich was talking to her stepson outside her work when two boys approached her car and shot at her, authorities said. Police told reporters they are still looking for the second suspect.

While detectives would not name the teenager since he is a juvenile, Detective Brendan Deenihan said at a news conference the boy has been a ward of the state for the past four years. Deenihan said the second suspect is also believed to be a juvenile.

Ruzich first attempted to drive away after the teens approached her car outside a store in the 13300 block of South Baltimore Avenue, but she was shot and crashed her car a block away, according to police.

Police said surveillance footage showed the two people followed Ruzich and continued shooting into her vehicle even after it crashed.

Deenihan said the duo was attempting to carjack Ruzich and had already tried to carjack several other vehicles in the area that night. The car they were driving was stolen.

Detectives said the teenager's fingerprints were found on tobacco wrappers outside a Citgo gas station. Surveillance video from outside the gas station showed him wearing all black, the same as one of the shooters in the video of Ruzich's death, police said.

Surveillance footage from Hammond, Indiana, also spotted the teen near where evidence from a previous crime spree was dumped in a garbage can, police said.

Prosecutors said he is scheduled to be in court on Monday.