No Bail For Man Accused Of Murdering Romantic Rival In Evanston

SKOKIE, IL — A Navy veteran accused of murdering the boyfriend of his former romantic partner was ordered held without bail Friday. Authorities said Sandoval Cobian was seen shooting Angel Miranda at least six times in the back outside his ex-girlfriend's home a week earlier and later admitted to fatally shooting the man.

Cobian, 38, of the Gage Park neighborhood in Chicago, has been charged with two counts of first degree murder in connection with the March 8 fatal shooting of Miranda, a 33-year-old resident of Chicago's Little Village neighborhood. The killing was Evanston's first recorded homicide of 2019.

At an initial court hearing in Skokie, Assistant State's Attorney Kim Przekota laid out evidence against Cobian. She said Cobain and his ex-girlfriend broke up last June, and she subsequently moved in with her parents in Evanston. The pair had known each other since eighth grade and continued communicating with each other after their romantic relationship ended, according to the prosecutor. Cobian would come over to visit about three times a week, Przekota said.

Two weeks before Miranda was found dead outside the woman's Evanston home, Miranda and the woman were arriving home together when Cobian drove up at the same time, the prosecutor said. Cobian and Miranda began to argue, but the woman was able to separate the two.

Knowing Cobian to sometimes carry a gun, she pushed him into her house "because she did not want anyone to get shot," she would later tell Miranda. As Cobian left the house that night, he discovered someone had keyed his car, but he did not report the incident to police, according to Przekota.

Last Friday, the day of the shooting, Cobian arrived at the woman's house near the corner of Simpson Street and Dodge Avenue around noon with plans to repair her mother's television, the prosecutor said. Cobian formerly worked in an IT position in Glenview, according to Assistant Public Defender David McMahon. Prosecutors said the woman used Cobian's car to run several errands throughout the day, dropping her kids off at various places.

Przekota explained Miranda had planned to come over that night, but the woman messaged him not to come "because there was too much going on."

Shortly before 7 p.m., Cobian got a phone call, left the house and was later seen sitting in the back seat of his car with a tablet and the windows rolled up. When asked why, he told the woman he was annoyed with her "because he thought she was not paying enough attention to him," the prosecutor said. The woman returned inside for a time but went back outside around 8 p.m. She saw Cobian crouched down on the driver's side of his car with one foot inside and one foot out.

That's when Miranda showed up. Cobian got out of his car and began firing, striking him several times in the back as he walked away, according to the prosecutor. Police would later find six 9 mm shell casings in the street. The woman told investigators she saw Cobian with a gun and flashes of light appearing as he fired but did not see Miranda fall to the ground. Evanston police said officers responded to a call of shots fired around the time of the shooting but did not locate a body.

After the shooting, Cobian was seen slowly backing up his car and driving away, according to the prosecutor. When the woman returned inside, she was asked by a person in the house if she heard the shooting. She sent a message to Cobian, who denied hearing any gunshots and said he had left.

Around 9:30 p.m., the woman went back outside to pay a cab fare for a relative. She noticed Miranda's car was parked outside, but he was nowhere to be seen. She soon found his body in Twiggs Park near where she had seen Cobian firing from his Nissan, according to Przekota.

The prosecutor said Cobian was seen on video after the shooting holding a gun. Detectives learned he went over to the home of two friends right after the shooting and was seen wiping off the gun, his face and his car with sterile wipes. Cobian told his friends he had shot a man near Simpson Park in Evanston and that he "needs to get rid of the gun," Przekota said. He packaged up the gun and his clothes and left in a friend's car.

Cobian spend 14 years in the U.S. Navy and was deployed to Iraq in 2001 and 2003, according to McMahon, the public defender. He is divorced with a 13-year-old daughter who lives in California with his ex-wife.

Prosecutors said he has never been found guilty of a felony, and his only misdemeanor conviction in the past 20 years was a 2005 vandalism charge in California. He received three years of probation for that offense.

After signing away his right to remain silent, Cobian admitted to shooting Miranda, according to police and prosecutors.

A sibling and parent of Cobian attended the hearing and were prepared to post about $10,000 as a cash portion of a bond, according to McMahon. But prosecutors argued against his release ahead of trial and the judge agreed.

"It is clear that [Cobian] is, in fact, a clear and present threat," Circuit Judge Aleksandra Gillespie said. He is due back in court for a bond review hearing on March 22.

Earlier:

• 'Romantic Rivalry,' 'Jealousy' Led To Murder: Evanston PD
• Man Found Dead In Evanston Backyard Shot 'Numerous' Times: Police