Trial Begins Over Double Shooting Of Skokie Teens

SKOKIE, IL — The trial of the first of five people accused of murdering a Niles North High School student and shooting a 17-year-old girl in the face during a 2014 robbery begins Monday in Skokie, Pioneer Press reported. Dzevad Avdic, 23, and four companions are charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and armed robbery in connection with the Sept. 28, 2014 shooting of the two Skokie teenagers.

Max Gadau was a 17-year-old standout varsity swimmer at Niles North. Investigators believe he accompanied his friend for protection as she arranged to sell marijuana, as a group of four 19-year-olds and a 17-year-0ld alleged shooter plotted to rob the pair.

When she refused to turn over the drugs, she was shot in the face and Gadau was shot in the back. Prosecutors told the Skokie Review she is expected to testify at trial.

Still awaiting trial are Myles Hughes and Nicholas Smith, both 23 and of Chicago's Ashburn neighborhood, Jeremy Ly, 23, of Skokie, and Antonio Hicks, 20, of the Roseland neighborhood in Chicago.

Avdic, formerly of Chicago's West Englewood neighborhood, is accused of planning the armed robbery and recruiting the other participants.

Prosecutors said Avdic asked Ly who would be a suitable target to rob, placed calls to the girl and waited in a nearby car with Ly and Smith as Hicks and Hughes got into the car in the 9200 block of Kedvale Avenue.

Avdic allegedly used a false name to set up the deal, telling the girl he was someone he thought she would be more willing to meet, according to the Chicago Tribune. After shooting the two teenagers, Hicks and Hughes grabbed 2 ounces of marijuana and fled the scene. Prosecutors said all five smoked the marijuana together.

Police said the girl was able to identify Hughes in a photograph as an accomplice of the shooter. Hicks was charged as an adult last year.

Prosecutors said in court that Hicks' fingerprint was found on the outside of the car and noted he was carrying a 9mm handgun at the time of his arrest, Pioneer Press reported. Authorities have said records of cell tower location data indicate Avdic called the girl's phone twice from nearby on the night of the robbery. And evidence from Avdic's cell phone, including calls and texts to the girl and the alleged accomplices, is likely to figure heavily in the state's argument.

Gadau's parents said Avdic had been a mentor to their son as a older teammate on the Niles North swim team.

"Max knew him as a friend," his father told Fox 32 in 2014. ""He was a mentor. He was a couple of years older than Max. But he was a person who took Max under his wing on the swim team."

Hughes and Avdic were both members of Niles North's class of 2013.

"I don't believe they knew it was Max," his mother told WLS-TV. "I don't believe that. One of them was a former teammate on the swim team. They've both been to my house. I think they're crushed."

Prosecutors said Hicks' trial is expected to take place later this year, while Hughes and Ly pleaded guilty to aggravated battery with a firearm and Smith to aggravated robbery, according to the Skokie Review.

Related:

• 5th Teen Faces Murder Charges Over Skokie Double Shooting
• Suspect Arrested for Murder, Attempted Murder of Skokie 17-Year-Olds
• Teens Charged Over Shooting Of Two Skokie 17-Year-Olds