Murder charge filed in fatal 2018 Humboldt Park shooting

A man is charged with first-degree murder in the Humboldt Park shooting of a man who died from his injuries over a year after the attack.

Ronald Saxon, 56, is also charged with armed robbery in the Oct. 17, 2018, incident that left Pedro Vasquez, 52, with severe injuries that led to his death in May 2020, according to a bond proffer prepared by Cook County prosecutors.

That day in 2018, Vasquez and another man were hanging out in an alleyway about 1:39 p.m. in the 1000 block of North Hamlin Avenue when Saxon got out of a white truck and approached them, prosecutors said.

Saxon then pushed Vasquez to the ground, punched him and kicked him in the body and head, prosecutors said. The other man went to reach for a stick in the alley and Saxon pulled out a gun from his waistband, pointed it at him and told him to back away.

Saxon struck Vasquez with the gun and then fired shots, striking him in the head and cheek, prosecutors said. Saxon kept hitting Vasquez even after he lay unconscious. Saxon then snatched Vasquez’s cell phone and ran back to his truck.

Vasquez was taken to a hospital, and Saxon allegedly told a woman the next day that Vasquez got what he deserved, prosecutors said. Three days later, Saxon showed the same woman a photo of Vasquez in the hospital and told her that he had beaten and pistol whipped him because Vasquez was trying to be tough with him.

Saxon also showed the woman a gun so that she would get in a car and go to the hotel room with him and have sex, prosecutors said. The woman felt like she had to comply and went with him to the hotel, but declined to have sex with him and he let her go. She later identified Saxon in a photo array.

Vasquez was released from the hospital to a nursing home, prosectors said. He ultimately died from his injuries on May 25, 2020.

An autopsy found he died of complications from a gunshot wound to the head and blunt force trauma, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. His death was ruled a homicide.

Saxon was ordered held on no bail at a hearing Wednesday and is due back in court Sept. 1, according to court records.