Police: their cell phones tie suspects to the area of the murder

by BRIAN NADIG

Two suspects who were on parole have been charged in connection with the May 10 murder and armed robbery of a 24-year-old Irving Woods man who was walking to a bus stop at 7 a.m. in the 3900 block of North Pittsburgh Avenue when a gunman shot him, according to Chicago police.

The victim was Zet Rodriguez, who was a father with another child on the way. Surveillance footage shows Rodriguez being shot and falling to the ground and then screaming as the gunman searches him.

One of the suspects, who was identified by police as Divonte Calhoun, age 32, of the 3500 block of Country Club Avenue, Gurnee, had been taken into custody shortly after the fatal shooting, but he was released without being charged, Area Five deputy chief of detectives Kevin Bruno said at a June 4 news conference. Bruno identified Calhoun as the alleged shooter.

A license plate number obtained during the initial investigation registered to one of Calhoun’s relatives, and he also was seen on surveillance footage at a Gurnee gas station wearing the same clothes he reportedly had on during the shooting, Bruno said.

The other suspect, who was identified by police as Justin Redmond, age 41, of the 3500 block of North Oriole Avenue, was the alleged driver of the getaway vehicle, Bruno said. Unlike Calhoun, Redmond was not taken into custody shortly after the murder, he said.

Cell phone data eventually provided “crucial” evidence in the case, as the suspects’ phones allegedly tied them to the area at the time of the shooting, Bruno said.

Both suspects were charged with a felony count of first-degree murder, a felony count of murder with other forcible felony, a felony count of armed robbery with a firearm and a count of issuance of a warrant, police said.

Calhoun was on parole for armed robbery and Redmond was on parole for unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, Bruno said.

Calhoun was arrested in 2015 in connection with a reported robbery in the 3900 block of North Cicero Avenue in the Six Corners area, according to police.

“We are so grateful to our Chicago police for their work in apprehending these individuals,” Alderman Nicholas Sposato (38th) said.

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