Arrest Made in Palos Park Man's Shooting Death

Caption: 1) Kevin O’Malley, 25, of Palos Park, who was found shot to death in Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood early Saturday morning. 2) Kristopher K. Pitts, 22, of Humboldt Park, the alleged assailant.

A Humboldt Park man taken into custody after a 25-year-old Palos Park man was found shot to death early Saturday morning on Chicago’s North Side now faces first-degree murder and armed robbery charges.

A 25-year-old Palos Park man was shot to death in the Lake View community on Chicago’s North Side at 2 a.m. Saturday as he was mugged for his cell phone, according to police. Kevin O’Malley was shot twice in the chest, according to authorities, at 2 a.m. Saturday.

O’Malley was pronounced dead at the scene in the 900 block of West Oakdale, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Kristopher Pitts, 22, of the 1100 block of North Central Avenue, fled the scene but was found a short time later. Witnesses identified Pitts as the man who fatally shot O’Malley in an apparent street robbery for his cell phone.

Pitts has another pending felony case in Cook County Criminal Court for the aggravated assault of a police officer in 2014, according to court records.

The Humboldt Park man has a hearing at the George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building at 26th and California on Sunday.

The slain man’s body was found beneath CTA tracks. A number of popular bars and restaurants are nearby. Ald. Tom Tunney, in an email blast to his ward residents Saturday morning, said there were witnesses to the crime.