Witness Testifies He Saw Palatine Teen After Hearing Gunshot on Night of Double Murder

A resident of a Palatine apartment complex testified Tuesday that he heard a gunshot then saw Marco Lopez through his unit's window the same night of a double murder that Lopez is accused of committing, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Lopez, 19, is on trial in connection with the murders of Segundo and Luis Reynoso, a father and son who were shot to death in March of 2014. Proceedings began with jury selection Monday, Aug. 29, and the prosecution's first witnesses took the stand Tuesday, Aug. 30, after opening statements.

The Reynosos were found dead March 19, 2014, in their unit in the Baldwin Green Apartment complex in the 1900 block of Green Lane North. Luis, 15, died from multiple gunshots to the face, and Segundo, 38, was killed from a single shot to the head.

Prosecutors claim Lopez, who was 17 at the time of the killings, murdered the Reynosos because he thought Luis Reynoso was snitching to police about illegal activities Lopez was involved with, the Tribune reports. Lopez and Luis were allegedly members of the same street gang, and the Reynosos' neighborhood has a strong gang presence.

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Lopez's defense team, however, claims authorities have the wrong individual on trial, the report stated. His lawyers argue that the real killer is a member of a different gang who was questioned and released by police but can no longer be found, the report added. The murder weapon also has not been recovered, and no fingerprints or DNA linking Lopez to the murder were found at the crime scene, according to the Tribune.

In his testimony Tuesday, Jose Angel Herrera, a 28-year-old who lived in the same apartment complex as the Reynosos, said he saw Lopez the night of the murders, right after hearing a gunshot, the report stated. According to Herrera, the teen had his hands underneath his sweatshirt, and it appeared he was holding something, the report added.

"He looked right at me," Herrera said in court, according to the Tribune. "I recognized his walk, the way he leans back when he walks."

After seeing Lopez, Herrera heard someone scream his names, and he ran upstairs to the Reynosos apartment, where he found the bodies, the report stated.

The trial continues Wednesday, Aug. 31, with more testimony.

More via the Chicago Tribune

PHOTO: Marco Lopez (Image via Cook County Sheriff's Office)

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