Teen Charged In Gang-Related Shooting Death Near Palatine

PALATINE, IL — A Palatine High School freshman has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the gang-related shooting death of Jose L. Castaneda, Jr., who was shot as he walked home from a gas station near Silver Lakes Apartment in unincorporated Palatine.

Police said that Andre Naydenov, 16, was driving the car that was used in the crime. He is not the accused shooter. He is being held on $750,000 bail and is to be held on electronic monitoring at home if bail is posted.

No one else has been charged in the shooting, the Daily Herald reported.

Castaneda was killed Feb. 1 just after 4 p.m. Feb. 1 on the 1500 block of Norway Lane as he walked home with a friend.

According to reports, Naydenov and a friend who was trying to recruit him into a gang encountered Castaneda and Castaneda's friend in a gas station. Naydenov was driving a silver BMW, and his friend, who was a passenger in the car, told him to drive and follow the men after they left the gas station.

According to the Herald, Naydenov reported that his friend viewed Castaneda and his companion as rival gang members. They were told to "stomp them", reports showed, which Naydenov interpreted as to hurt or kill them.

Naydenov followed the men and stopped when the man in the passenger seat told him to. That man opened the BMW's door and shot at Castaneda.

Police recovered the 9mm handgun they say was used in the shooting Feb. 3.

Learn more in the full story.

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