16-Year-Old Boy Murdered by 2 Latin Kings Gang Members Over Haircut
Two Latin Kings gang members have been arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a 16-year-old rival in Chicago on Friday night.
Latin King gang members Jesus Moro, 21, and Sergio Rodriguez, 20, were charged with first-degree murder on Monday in connection with Julian Castillo's death, Chicago police said as Fox23 reported.
According to Assistant State's Attorney Angel Eggleston, Julian Castillo was cutting the hair of a fellow member of the Two-Six gang in a lower-floor apartment Friday night when Moro and Rodriguez noticed it was a "Two-Six cut."
When Rodriguez recognized the man's haircut from Latin Kings' rival gang, he became enraged and began to yell that he hates Two-Six and pulled out a gun inside the building in the 6300 block of South Richmond Street.
Rodriguez, together with Moro, then chased Castillo, who ran out of the apartment. Prosecutors said that Rodriguez asked Castillo about his gang affiliation. When Julian Castillo identified himself as a member of Two-Six, Rodriguez started punching him.
Julian Castillo managed to get about a block-and-a-half down the street before Moro emerged and fired multiple rounds at Castillo, hitting the teenager several times, according to a Chicago Sun Times report.
On the other hand, Rodriguez punched Julian Castillo a few more times before leaving him. Castillo's friend was able to run to the back door where he saw Moro wearing a distinctive white hoodie and was holding the gun that Rodriguez held earlier, prosecutors said.
The prosecutors added that when someone asked Moro what he had just done, he just laughed. Castillo's friend ran to him and stayed with him until the police arrived. The 16-year-old victim was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead.
Rodriguez was apprehended after officers found him hiding in the trunk of a parked Chevy Malibu, while Moro was arrested after he came out of a restroom in the second-floor apartment.
A surveillance video showed Moro shooting Julian Castillo while wearing the said white hoodie. Investigators found 10 shell casings and two fired bullets at the scene.
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Latin Kings Gang
Latin Kings was already established in Chicago, Illinois in 1954. The gang, known as the Imperials then, was founded by Roman Santos, a young Cuban youth raised in Puerto Rico. Santos started putting a club of three boys that included his stepbrother, "Fast Eddie," also a Puerto Rican.
Reports said more than 60 members and associates of the notorious Latin Kings gang have already been arrested in major East Coast.
"Law enforcement developed evidence that the Latin Kings trafficked drugs, conspired to murder more than 10 victims, and committed violent crimes including numerous incidents of robbery, shootings, stabbings and witness intimidation," federal authorities earlier said as New York Daily News reported.
Among those arrested is Michael Cecchetelli, a Massachusetts resident with ties to the Genovese crime family. He oversaw the gang's operations from Massachusetts to Florida.
Joseph Bonavolonta, head of Boston's FBI office, said that anyone who tries to fill the void left by those apprehensions should know that they will not tolerate those who terrorize their neighborhoods and put the public at risk.
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