2 Teens Murdered In Dangerous Part Of Joliet On New Year's Eve

JOLIET, IL - Just before midnight on New Year's Eve, a carload of five young people found themselves in a dangerous part of Joliet, an area known as The Hill, police said. Suddenly, someone opened fire upon their 2017 Nissan Sentra. Two backseat passengers were shot, a teenage boy and a teenage girl, according to Joliet Police. The car then sped toward Silver Cross Hospital off Route 6 in New Lenox, where the two gunshot victims were pronounced dead at the hospital's Emergency Room. The shootings happened in the 900 block of Rosalind Street, near a large Joliet public housing complex.

Around 4 p.m. on New Year's Day, Will County Coroner's officials identified the victims as being 15-year-old Victor J. Arroyo and 17-year-old Aliyah M. Salazar. Arroyo had died from multiple gunshot wounds while Salazar died from a single gunshot wound. The coroner's office identified both victims as being Joliet residents, however, Joliet Police Department officials said the teenage girl lived in Lockport while the 15-year-old boy lived in Romeoville.

At any rate, both of the funeral arrangements are being handled by the Delgado Funeral Home on Joliet's Landau Avenue.

Joliet Deputy Chief of P0lice Al Roechner told Patch that the three Joliet residents who were not injured during the shooting included two males and a female. He said the driver was a 21-year-old Joliet man. Roechner said that the survivors told Joliet Police detectives that they ended up on The Hill "because they had gotten lost."

While on Rosalind Street, about 20 minutes before midnight, someone "opened fire on their vehicle," Roechner said. He was not sure how many bullets were fired, but estimated it was probably between five and 10.

The two homicide victims were both sitting in the backseat of the Nissan Sentra, he said.

At the New Lenox hospital, none of the three Joliet residents gave police detectives much helpful information about the gunman.

Around 3 p.m. on New Year's Day, Roechner told Patch that Joliet Police still had no information about the suspect's age or description. About the only thing police know is that the shooter approached their new car on foot and opened fire.

Whether the shooter lived in the public housing units or had parked his car nearby and sped off remains unknown, Roechner said.

"Nobody in the vehicle could describe the shooter," Roechner said. Also, Joliet police did not receive any 911 calls from any of the nearby residents even though there were numerous rounds of gunshots being fired in close proximity to the apartments.

"Hopefully some witnesses can come forward who saw something or heard something," he added.

Roechner said that detectives intend on making a second run at interviewing the three other occupants of the car in an attempt to learn more details surrounding the double murder.

"They were pretty shaken, but we will definitely be talking to them again," Roechner promised. "This could easily have been five dead in that vehicle. It just sounds like it was senseless."

In September, Joliet Police responded to another gunshot murder over at The Hill. That particular killing took the life of 34-year-old Joliet native Miles Stallings. Stallings was shot multiple times in the 800 block of Robin Lane.

The Stallings slaying still remains unsolved.

Joliet Police have said that there were several people were outside in the neighborhood around the time of the shooting, but nobody came forward with information that would help police identify Stallings' killer.

RELATED: Wake Set For Joliet Murder Victim Miles Stallings

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