Teen charged with murder for allegedly avenging brother’s beating

SHARE Teen charged with murder for allegedly avenging brother’s beating
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Elizabeth Diaz | Cook County sheriff’s office mug shot

In retaliation for a gang beating, a 15-year-old boy riding by in an SUV fatally shot a 20-year-old on his bike on a Northwest Side street then got out and repeatedly shot him while he was on the ground, authorities said Friday.

The details emerged Friday in Cook County bond court as a judge set $1 million bail for a teenage girl, Elizabeth Diaz, 18, who is charged with murder because she allegedly drove the shooter on Tuesday to Kelvyn Park to kill the gang member, prosecutors said. The 15-year-old shooter has been charged as a juvenile in the shooting death of 20-year-old Carlos Ocampo.

Earlier in the day, Diaz wasn’t happy when she learned her younger brother had been beaten up by some Latin Cobras who believed he was in a rival gang, prosecutors said.

So Diaz and several others, including the gunman, piled in her black Ford Expedition, seeking revenge, prosecutors said.

After the shooting the SUV stalled nearby in the 2500 block of North Kostner, so Diaz and the others inside ran away, including the gunman, prosecutors said.

Diaz later reported her car stolen and when she was contacted by police, she admitted to being at the shooting, Assistant State’s Attorney Bryan Grissman said. She later allegedly confessed to picking up the shooter and knew he had a gun.

A witness also told police Diaz had said the group was going to the park to kill the Cobras that beat up her brother, Grissman said.

Diaz’s younger brother, 15, thought he was targeted by the Latin Cobras because they believed he was in the Latin Boys gang, Grissman said.

To verify who beat him, Diaz and another brother, 17, looked at photos on Facebook.

Diaz picked up some friends, including the 15-year-old. Prosecutors said Diaz encouraged the 15-year-old to bring a gun and picked him up in the SUV.

The young gunman, who was in the front-passenger seat, started shouting at Ocampo, and Ocampo shouted back, Grissman said.

Soon, Ocampo rode his bike closer to the SUV and kept yelling, Grissman said.

That’s when the boy allegedly pulled out a handgun from his backpack and started shooting.

When police arrived at the scene later, they found Ocampo in the street and the empty Ford Expedition.

They ran the plate and determined it was Diaz’s car.

Diaz has no criminal background. She attended Foreman College and Career Academy, received her GED and works at Northstar Coffee at Addison and Kimball, as assistant public defender said.


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