Chicago police say a brutal early-morning assault that left a 49-year-old homeless man dead has resulted in criminal charges against three Venezuelan migrant teenagers.
The attack, investigators said, played out in front of the victim’s cat as he pushed a shopping cart of belongings along a downtown sidewalk.
Authorities allege the teens ambushed him before fleeing through the Loop, sparking an hours-long search across the West Side.
Prosecutors have identified 16-year-old Wuinayker Rodriguez-Vasquez and two 14-year-old boys as the individuals believed to have carried out the fatal assault on Bradley Obeirne on Sunday morning.
Another man, 23-year-old Samuel Alvarado Moreno, was also part of the group and is now facing a felony charge of criminal damage to property.
Authorities said the encounter happened shortly before dawn, around 5:45 a.m., when the teenagers spotted Obeirne near a restaurant with a Best Buy shopping cart filled with his possessions.
His cat and a skeleton mask were among the belongings he carried with him.
According to Assistant State’s Attorney Todd Kleist, surveillance footage showed one of the 14-year-olds running up to Obeirne and striking him with a metal rod. The other teen allegedly grabbed Obeirne’s mask in the same moment.
Police said several members of the group initially fled, but Rodriguez-Vasquez turned back and kicked the victim, escalating what had begun as a robbery into a deadly street fight.
Prosecutors said Rodriguez-Vasquez then pulled a knife from his sleeve and stabbed Obeirne in the back, leaving him bleeding on the sidewalk as the group disappeared into the neighborhood.
Investigators later located video that appeared to show the 16-year-old displaying the same knife while aboard a train and pantomiming stabbing while wearing the stolen mask.
Officials said Obeirne remained on the pavement for a prolonged period until a passerby discovered him in an alcove, surrounded by a pool of blood.
The witness called 911, and officers arrived to find the victim critically injured.
A bicycle, believed to have been used by one of the attackers, was found abandoned at the scene. Police brought Obeirne’s cat to Chicago Animal Care and Control.
During the search for suspects the next day, detectives reviewed surveillance footage that showed the teenagers wearing the same clothing from the time of the attack.
They were located at the Western Pink Line station and taken into custody without incident.
Police said Rodriguez-Vasquez still had a knife on him when he was arrested.
Rodriguez-Vasquez now faces a first-degree murder charge and will be tried as an adult.
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The two 14-year-olds are being sent to juvenile court; the teen accused of stealing Obeirne’s mask is charged with robbery, while the teen alleged to have taken part in the attack involving the metal rod is now facing a first-degree murder charge as well.
Authorities said the teens did not know Obeirne. Public records indicate the victim had his own minor criminal record, though investigators have not suggested it played any role in the attack.
Officials stated that Rodriguez-Vasquez is a Venezuelan national who had been living in Chicago for two years.
The Department of Homeland Security informed Fox News that he is believed to have entered the country in September 2023 in Texas and was documented as an “alien inadmissibility” case, referring to circumstances in which a person is not permitted to enter or remain in the United States.
A judge denied Rodriguez-Vasquez bail at his first court hearing on Tuesday, stating that the teenager presents a danger to the public.
“This was completely senseless. There was no reason for you to do what you did,” the judge told him, according to ABC7.
In a separate case out of Philadelphia, police are searching for a teenager caught on video randomly attacking a homeless man in broad daylight.
The surveillance footage, recorded on November 22, shows the teen walking up behind the man, who had a blanket draped around his shoulders and was visibly limping.
With friends watching and filming from across the street, the teen struck the back of the man’s head in what authorities described as a vicious and unprovoked hit.
The blow sent the victim collapsing onto the sidewalk as the teen sprinted back to his friends.
Witnesses rushed in to help the man and contacted 911, though he told authorities he did not want law enforcement involved.
Detectives have reviewed the footage as they continue searching for the teen responsible.
Residents in the Bridesburg neighborhood told 6ABC that they had seen the suspect wandering the area before but had not spotted him since the attack.
“The man was already having a bad day as it is,” local resident Kristina Myers said. “He’s walking around with a blanket on, he’s limping, and he’s cold. Leave him alone. Why do you have to bother the guy?”
She and others said they hope police identify the teenager before the violence escalates.
In Wisconsin, a separate overnight incident involving a group of teenagers was recorded on a Ring camera in Milwaukee, showing six youths smashing the windows of a parked white car and setting it on fire.
The group, many wearing hoodies, appeared to survey their surroundings before one of the teens hurled a large stone at the vehicle’s passenger window.
Footage showed the same teen igniting an object moments later and tossing it into the car, setting off a fire that quickly intensified.
As flames grew, the group shattered more windows and shouted to one another.
A dog began barking after the initial window smash, and minutes later, a neighbor rushed to the home with the doorbell camera as the car burned behind her.
The video, shared online by the homeowner, shows the vehicle engulfed in flames, lighting up the street as car horns blared.
The homeowner posted the footage across social media, adding, “This was caught on my ring camera last night, some kids out burning cars up, thank GOD they didn’t go for my Benz that’s parked right in front of my Hummer.”
