More Charges Filed After Girl, 15, Killed By Stray Bullet

ROUND LAKE BEACH, IL — More charges have been filed against 19-year-old Round Lake Beach man accused in the stray-bullet slaying of 15-year-old Valeria Rodriguez.

On Monday, the Lake County State's Attorney's Office approved additional charges against Shorbonia Poole, Jr., 19, including charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm and felony murder predicated on aggravated discharge of a firearm.

An arrest warrant has been filed in Lake County, and Poole is expected to appear for a hearing on the new charges Monday afternoon, prosecutors said. He's been detained at the Lake County Jail since he was initially charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon in connection with the shooting in late July.

Poole, of the 1400 block of Kildeer Drive, Round Lake Beach, is accused of firing a gun outside a home in the 1500 block of Cherokee Drive in Round Lake Beach at about 9:10 p.m. on July 24. The bullet went into the nearby home and hit Rodriguez, according to authorities.

When police arrived at the scene, they found Rodriguez with a gunshot wound. She was taken to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

It does not appear Rodriguez was the target in the shooting, according to authorities.

"It is unknown if the shooter knew the girl, but as she was inside her home when shot, and the bullet appears to be a stray round, she is not believed to be the intended target," Christopher Covelli, spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, told Patch.

It's uncle at this point why Poole fired the gun and if there was an intended target in the shooting.

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