A Southwest Side man has been charged with murder in connection with an April shooting that killed 9-year-old Ariana Molina and wounded ten of her relatives, authorities said.
Octaviano Romero, 39 and a resident of the New City neighborhood, allegedly drove the shooters to the Molina family home, where family members said they were holding a confirmation party for Ariana’s aunt. Romero allegedly waited for the shooters, helped them flee the scene and concealed evidence of the shooting, according to court records.
The resulting gunfire killed Ariana and wounded ten of her relatives, including boys aged 1, 7 and 9, authorities said. Court documents describe the suspected shooters as street gang members.
Romero faces a single count of murder and ten more counts of attempted murder, according to Chicago police.
Neighbors of the family up and down West 52nd Street remembered Ariana as intelligent and a good sister. They also expressed frustration and fear with gang activity in the area, saying people were “running up and down our street with rifles.”
Romero appeared in court Monday for a detention hearing where Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz ordered him held pending trial, records show. He is next set to appear in court Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.