Pilsen man charged with Brighton Park slaying now facing 3rd murder charge

An alleged street gang member accused of killing two men in a fatal shooting in the Pilsen neighborhood last year is now facing a third murder charge in a drive-by shooting in Brighton Park.

Derek Paige, 25, is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting of 30-year-old Benjamin Robles on Aug. 20, 2017, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

Paige is accused of pulling up in a tan Nissan Pathfinder to the passenger side of Robles’ vehicle while it was stopped at a red light about 5:10 a.m. in the 3800 block of South Archer Avenue and opening fire, Assistant State’s Attorney Rachel Mabbott said during a bail hearing Friday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Robles suffered nine gunshot wounds, including to the head and arms, and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

After the shooting, Paige sped off in the Pathfinder, which was found ablaze less than two hours later in the 100 block of North Latrobe on the West Side, Mabbott said.

Paige is also facing murder charges in a separate shooting that killed two men last year in the Pilsen neighborhood.

About 10:50 a.m. Oct. 7, 2017, 20-year-old Alexis Ceron-Salgado and 18-year-old Manuel Mendoza were shot multiple times as they sat in a vehicle in the 1800 block of South Throop, according to police and prosecutors. Paige is accused of killing the two men in retribution for a shooting that happened the night before in the South Side Fuller Park neighborhood.

Paige is an alleged member of the Ambrose street gang nicknamed Lil Kreeper, according to police records. He was living in Pilsen when he was taken into custody March 28 and charged with killing Ceron-Salgado and Mendoza.

Records from a cell phone that was recovered during his arrest showed Paige was in the area when Robles was shot to death and was also nearby when Pathfinder was found burning, Mabbott said. A witness to Robles’ shooting identified Paige as the gunman.

Paige was being held without bail at the Cook County Jail on the double murder charges when he was charged Thursday with the Brighton Park shooting, court records show.

On Friday, Judge Mary Marubio ordered Paige held without bail on the latest charge and set his next court day for Nov. 8.