Bail denied for man charged in shooting woman in River North

Bail was denied for a man charged with attempted first-degree murder for allegedly shooting a woman while she was sitting in a vehicle last month in River North.

Ojani Cruz, 19, was arrested Friday after he was identified as the person alleged to have shot and seriously wounded a 20-year-old woman, Chicago police said.

On May 29, the woman was sitting in a parked vehicle with a male in the 500 block of West Erie Street when three to four male suspects approached them, police said. One suspect reached into the vehicle and punched the male in the face. As the suspects walked away, one pulled out a gun and fired shots.

The woman was struck in the back and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious condition and as a result caused her to be paralyzed from the waist down, prosecutors said Sunday.

The male wasn’t shot and refused help from paramedics, according to police.

In April, Cruz was arrested and charged for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, prosecutors said. He was released on an individual bond with electronic monitoring.

A Cook County judge said the 19-year-old posed a threat to the public and ordered him held without bail.

Cruz will appear in court Friday for violating his bail bond on his weapon charge.