Little Village police shooting: Saul Zaragoza charged with attempted murder

Saul Zaragoza, 25, was found in the vehicle suspected in the shooting that prompted the police response, officials said.

By Sun-Times Wire and Madeline Kenney

Lailanni Fields died from child abuse October 18, 2021 in Grand Crossing. — A man was charged with multiple felonies following the Oct. 23, 2020, attack that led to a fatal police shooting in Little Village.

A convicted felon who was riding in a car driven by a man who was killed by Chicago police after the pair allegedly fled from officers following a shooting in Little Village last week was ordered held without bail.

Saul Zaragoza, 25, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and unlawful use of a firearm by a felon for a shooting that left a graze wound to a man’s head.

Following an initial report the shots fired about 12:30 p.m. Friday, officers responded to the 3700 block of West of 26th Street, where they saw the vehicle tied to the shooting — the car Zaragoza was in — fleeing the scene at a high speed, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. The officers followed the silver sedan through an alley before it struck another vehicle and crashed into a utility pole, prosecutors said Sunday.

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Zaragoza, of Berwyn, was stopped by officers as he tried to exit the back passenger side of the sedan, prosecutors said.

Meanwhile, the sedan’s driver, 25-year-old Marc Nevarez, bolted from the vehicle with a fully loaded revolver in hand, prosecutors said. A brief on-foot chase ensued before an officer fatally shot Nevarez in the lower back, prosecutors said.

Zaragoza, who was on parole for a 2010 armed robbery case after serving less than half of his initial 21-year sentence, admitted to being in the vehicle, but accused Nevarez of firing the gun through the rear passenger window.

However, prosecutors said the evidence “directly contradicts” Zaragoza’s claim. A semi-automatic handgun with an empty clip was recovered floorboard in plain view within arm’s reach of where Zaragoza was seated, prosecutors said. Investigators also found six shell casings on the street of the initial shooting that match the caliber of that handgun.

Zaragoza is expected back in court Tuesday.

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