Man used Snapchat to lure victim to South Side alley, where he killed him: prosecutor

A man used the social media app Snapchat to lure an acquaintance in April to a South Side alley, where he fatally shot the acquaintance, prosecutors said.

Malik Wilson fired twice, causing Giovanny C. Alvarado to fall to the ground the afternoon of April 24, Cook County prosecutors said Sunday.

A witness saw Alvarado stretch out his arms “as if begging” before Wilson opened fire again, according to prosecutors, who did not provide a motive.

Alvarado, 24, was struck five times and pronounced dead at a hospital.

Judge Susana Ortiz said Wilson was a “danger to the community” in having allegedly “lured someone” before killing him. She ordered the 23-year-old held without bail.

After the hearing, the victim’s mother said she did not know the motive for the attack but knew the pair had fought previously. Wilson and her son knew each other from a GED class.

“He did not deserve this,” Sylvia Alvarado said about her son, a North Sider who worked in construction. “He was never about guns — he was about gloves.”

Cortesía

Earlier on the day of the attack, Wilson told Alvarado to meet him in the 1300 block of East 71st Place, prosecutors said.

Wilson asked him where he was, and Alvarado sent a series of Snapchat messages from a bus on his way there, prosecutors said.

About 2:40 p.m., the police gunshot detection system ShotSpotter reported two gunshots in that area, then six more, prosecutors said.

The witness saw a man in all black and a black mask fire the shots and run from the scene, prosecutors said.

Detectives tracked him on surveillance video to Dorchester Avenue, around two-tenths of a mile away, where he was captured on the video taking off his mask, prosecutors said.

About a month later, Wilson was arrested in downstate McLean County on suspicion of attempted armed robbery, prosecutors said.

The gun he was carrying matched the fired shell casings from the Alvarado shooting, prosecutors said. Wilson is the registered owner of that weapon, prosecutors said.

Wilson’s cellphone was also placed near the scene of the Alvarado slaying, prosecutors said.

While in custody in McLean County, Wilson told a fellow detainee that he had used the same gun earlier to kill someone, prosecutors said.

Chicago police and U.S. Marshals arrested Wilson on Saturday at the McLean County Jail in Bloomington on a warrant in Alvarado’s murder, court documents show.

Wilson’s defense attorney criticized the evidence as completely circumstantial. The attorney said there was not enough for a no-bail hold.

Wilson was scheduled to appear in court again Wednesday.